Attracting Flies
by scarlettstones
Summary: Bella Swan. Graduated from Yale with a degree in chemical engineering at 15 and a spy at an international organization her own family founded. Her biggest mistake? Sleeping with the grandson of a mafia boss during a mission of hers. "Well, if I ever see him again, I'm screwed." Spyella, Mobward. AH
1. Prologue

"Swan checking in."

"Bella, he's not hard to spot." Rosalie commented into the earpiece. "He probably has scotch in his hand and two blondes clinging onto him."

I scanned the place and snorted. "Not hard to spot, my arse." I told her. "There's about twelve men with scotch and two blondes. Please tell me you have a better description of him."

"I'm looking through the files, honey. You'll have to wait."

"Waiting is what keeps us from getting what we need." I snapped into the small circular speaker attached to my gold bangles. "Hurry up." I scanned the place one more time and flicked my mahogany brown straight hair to the left shoulder and headed to the bar. "One virgin martini, please." I told the bartender who gave me a strange look, but complied. He made my drink in ten seconds flat and slipped in a tiny umbrella at the rim of the martini glass before handing it to me."Ooh, thanks." I smiled and took out the little umbrella from the glass, twirling it around my fingers as I took a sip of my drink.

"Okay, I got it all right here." Rosalie finally announced. "He's twenty-one. Bronze hair, green eyes. Prefers poker. Does that help?"

"Definitely." I replied. I scanned the room thoroughly for the third time and raised my eyebrows. "You're kidding."

"I kid you not, Swan." I could literally hear her smirk through the earpiece. "If he recites poetry, I'm totally banging him."

"You have Emmett anyways, so no. Target's name?" I asked.

"Weren't you supposed to read the file before going out into the field?" She groaned.

"I'm sorry, I was busy with another mission if you don't remember." I sarcastically said.

"Edward Anthony Masen Cullen. Prefers to be called Edward." Rose informed. "Adopted grandson and successor to Edward Sr., leader of the Cullen family. You know what that family does for a living, don't you?"

"Yeah. Is he gay?" I asked.

"Okay, to be honest, I think he is." She giggled. "I mean, seriously! He's seriously good-looking and he has two blondes by his side. Don't you think that's further proof?"

"Well, dang." I muttered. "Why is every hot guy either taken, gay or an asshole?"

"How the hell would I know? And what would you label the guys at SIGO?"

"Assholes. They're hot but unfortunately they're assholes." I sighed. "Okay. No time for talk now."

The casino was packed with gamblers and models looking for sugar-daddies to hook their claws deep into. I made sure my hair was neat and silky and that my silk royal blue long-sleeved high-slit dress was in order. With my virgin martini in hand, I walked over to the poker table where my target was. I took a seat across him, watching the poker table closely as the game played on. I glanced at Edward Cullen where one of the blondes that was by his side stood, dipping her hand down his chest but he didn't look flustered as he continued watching the poker dealer as he passed out the cards again.

"Yep. Definitely gay." I chuckled under my breath as I adjusted the chunky emerald necklace I wore. She laughed along too from probably the surveillance room in the casino as she watched the surveillance cameras. I took a drag of my martini and looked at him again only to find him staring at me. I ignored his gaze and leaned forward on the table.

"Swan, finish your drink." Rosalie suggested. "By the way he's staring, he might buy you a drink to catch your attention."

I went along with her suggestion and drained my glass in one go. True enough, he called the waiter nearest to the table and whispered some words into his ear as he placed a bill into the waiter's hand. The waiter walked away and in a minute, someone tapped my shoulder. My head snapped up.

"Miss," the same waiter who approached Edward just now stood behind me with a glass of martini which was probably an alcoholic one. "Compliments from Mr. Cullen."

"Tell him that I don't drink alcohol." I replied. The waiter nodded and went to Edward to pass him the message. As the waiter passed the message on, Edward's forehead crumpled up in annoyance.

I knew what Rosalie was gonna tell me, so I quickly explained to her before she went on to ask. "It's alcoholic. He didn't know my martini was a virgin one."

"And you're trying to play hard, aren't you?" She pointed out. "Nice."

"I'm underaged, dumbass. Aunt Siobhan would have my head. You're supposed to watch out for me anyways." I whispered low enough so that no one else but Rosalie could hear. "I'm only sixteen and I'm still responsible when I go undercover."

"Whatever. Focus on the job. He's staring again."

"Whatever I do, don't question." I told her when I finally had something in mind.

When the round of poker ended, I stood up from my seat and walked over to the bar.

"Is he following me?" I asked Rosalie.

"Yeah." she replied as I heard her type into her laptop. "Whatever you're doing, hope your plan works because you tell me certain stuff that only relates to me and the rest is all suddenly a secret. How am I supposed to do my job if you don't tell me the whole plan?"

"Oh shut up and stop being such a crybaby." I rolled my eyes. I took a seat at the bar and ordered a virgin mojito.

I saw that Edward took a seat beside me and he gave a panty-dropping smile. "What's your name, beautiful?"

"Lexi." I lied, holding my hand out for him to shake. "Pleasure to meet you."

"If it is, then why did you refuse the drink?" He asked.

"It's alcoholic. I don't drink alcohol." I told him quickly. "Like the drink I'm drinking now. It's a virgin."

He leaned in when he tucked a stray strand of my hair behind my ear. "It may be a sweet innocent mojito, but I know that the lady drinking it is a naughty sexy seductress." He whispered.

I laughed. "Whoa, tiger. You only asked me why I turned your drink down and then you're inviting me to bed?"

He smirked, pulling away from me. "Why wouldn't I?"

I pondered over it and then took on his offer. "Fine." I just said and he stood up, his hand out. I took it and he led me down the hallway of the casino that held the elevator up to the hotel. Once the elevator doors closed behind us and he pressed the floor button, he grabbed me by the waist and his lips met mine. His kiss was rough but his lips were soft. He tasted intoxicating, like scotch, mint and cigarettes. I pulled him closer by his shoulders and opened my mouth willingly as his tongue seeked it out. I was getting hooked quickly.

He started peppering kisses down my jaw to my neck. I moaned. "I can't help but ask this," he whispered in my ear before continuing what he was doing, "how old are you? You don't seem old enough to be in a casino."

"Nineteen." I lied again. "You won't tell on me, would you?"

"Never. I promise." He bit my earlobe and my grip on him tightened. "You taste good."

"Thanks," came out my sarcastic reply, but it didn't really sound sarcastic.

When the elevator reached the floor Edward's room was, he carried me to his room as if I didn't weigh a kilogram at all. I wrapped my legs around his waist and ground myself against him. "Fuck, baby." He hissed, thrusting slightly against me. "You're killing me."

And while that sentence was a metaphor, I took it seriously and I was going to kill him when I got what I wanted no matter how gorgeous he was. "Soon," I moaned. When we gained entrance into his suite, he brought me into the bedroom where we continued making out. I started removing his blazer as we kissed and fumbled with the buttons as I attempted to remove his shirt.

"Bella, stay focus." Rose started talking. "As much as I would like to drool over his abs, I think that you should be looking for the document now. I know you can't talk right now, but I know where it is. He's quite the paranoid guy, so it's under his bed pillow."

I kissed down Edward's chest and abs and he groaned, his abs clenching under my touch. I unzipped his fly and tugged down his pants a little with his boxers. "Shit," he snarled out when I grabbed his cock and his hand held my thigh close to where my 22 caliber gun was kept. I removed my thong and eased himself into me. I moaned as he filled me up nicely. I leaned forward and devoured his mouth as I rode him hard and fast. I clenched my walls around him and he hissed. "Fuck."

He unzipped the back of my dress halfway and removed me from the top of the dress. He unhooked my bra and latched his mouth on my nipple. I arched and rode him harder. With one hand on his head to keep him at my breasts, I reached for under the pillow to grab the document he kept. I felt paper under it and I took it out slowly. I removed my hand from the document for awhile and felt the side of his waist with my hands. He hid his gun on his right. I didn't even feel it there just now.

With his hand so close to my gun, I held his waist just in case he wanted to try anything funny. He then sucked on my other nipple and I lost myself for a second there. I refocused and immediately snatched up the document. I felt my gun slip out of its carrier on my thigh and grabbed his gun from the side of his waist. I sat straight up on him and pointed his own gun at him as he pointed my gun at me, eyes fixated on my face.

"You thought that I didn't know what you were thinking, did you?" He snapped.

"Probably. Probably not. Your choice." I shrugged indifferently.

"I never lose focus." He glared.

"Oh really?" I challenged, raising my eyebrows. I clenched my walls around his cock and he groaned out. "I love it when I prove someone wrong." I told him. "I'm in charge here, baby. No use of pointing my own gun at me. Give it back."

"I won't." He said.

"Alright. Fine. Your choice." I shrugged again and rode him slowly at my own pace and I swiveled, making him moan. When I needed more, I rocked faster and faster until I could feel him cum inside me. I needed my own release, so I rode him faster until I finally orgasmed. I got off him and wore on my bra and the top of my dress again before grabbing a clean pair of his boxers from the drawer and wearing it to compensate for my drenched thong.

I walked over to him and planted a kiss on his lips. "Thanks babe. You just made it up on top of my interrogation experiences list." I told him.

He pulled me closer to him unexpectedly and his gun was pressing against my skin at the small of my back. "Give me back the file." He hissed.

"I can't. It's important to me too." I said.

"How about another round?" He bit my shoulder softly and I moaned.

"No can do," I replied. If we went for another round, I don't think I could make it out of the place in time and he'd take advantage of that to snatch back to document.

"Then you've got to give the file back."

My gun dug into the back of his head. "No."

"Now."

"I don't think so." I snarled. "You're not that smart, are you? Luring a spy into bed isn't the best way to stay out of trouble." I pulled away from him and continued pointing my gun at him until I was out of the hotel suite.

I straightened my dress and walked quickly. "Mission completed. Rose, meet me outside." I told her. "His men are probably searching for me now."

"Hot damn, Bella. Well, I had to stay away from the headphones as far as possible. You guys were making seriously loud sex sounds." She muttered.

"Sorry dude." I laughed. "Well, if I ever see him again, I'm screwed."

* * *

Hey there. Well, it's a new story and two ideas that I thought up, but I decided to mash it up and see what happens. Review, guys! It'd mean so much to me. Thanks.

Scarlett


	2. Chapter One

"Good job, Agent Swan," Siobhan Swan raised her eyebrows incredulously as she congratulated me, the document I stole from Edward Cullen in between her waif thin fingers. "May I just ask, what _creative_ things did you do in order to achieve this file?"

Even though she was my aunt, I wasn't afraid to be bold and daring in front of her. "I slept with Edward Cullen Sr.'s grandson." I shrugged it off.

She blinked her eyes for a few seconds, as if it was really unexpected. "Bella, may I just remind you that—"

"I'm not a hooker and I'm not supposed to sleep around especially with mobsters because it'll be bad for our family name?" I guessed.

"No, that was not what I was about to say. I was about to say that you are still sixteen and that means you are underaged. You are not supposed to have sexual intercourse and drink liquor until you are of legal age." She sternly told me. "You are lucky enough that I didn't suspend you when you were caught drinking. Agent Hale, did she even take a drop of alcohol when she was on the mission?"

Rosalie shook her head in certainty. "No. She only drank virgin cocktails throughout the night."

Siobhan smiled. "Good progress, Swan. Keep it up. As for sleeping with the heir of the Cullen mafia, I will let you go for this. Although I find your methods of completing your missions absolutely bizarre, all I need at the end of the day is for you to give me what I need and for you to be safe and sound."

"Thanks Aunt Siobhan." I said.

"At work, you call me Miss Swan, Bella." She held my gaze, but her eyes were twinkling.

"Are we dismissed now, Miss Swan?" Rosalie asked.

Siobhan nodded. "Yes. Good job on your work too, Rose."

She flushed. "Thank you Miss Swan."

Rosalie & I quickly turned our bodies to the door before Siobhan could call us back for anymore missions. We were dead tired. All we needed was another agent to handle whatever case Siobhan wanted to hand us.

"Bella, Rosalie," she said just when I twisted the doorknob. Rosalie punched the air inconspicuously so that Siobhan couldn't see. I groaned silently. We looked back at her, the most pleasant smiles that we both could muster now plastered on our faces. She was already sitting on her seat behind her desk. "I just got an alert saying that Edward Cullen Sr. is now dead. Died from a heart attack. So that means that Edward Anthony Masen Cullen is now the new leader of the mafia. Good luck." She winked at me. "Now you both are really dismissed."

Once out, Rosalie freaked out. "What the _fuck_? Bella, you know what this means now, do you?"

"What?" I frowned at her weird behavior.

"You slept with a mafia boss!" She squealed.

"Yes," I muttered in distaste. "Apparently so."

"Oh come on," she rolled her eyes. "The sex was obviously great. I wonder if we're ever going to get on a mission about him again."

"I will never agree to the case, okay? If you wanna do more missions about him in the near future, I'm not stopping you. Just show me to where I can exchange you for another partner and you can go do the mission." I shook my head.

"You can never change partners, honey." She grinned, linking her arm with mine. "You're stuck with me _forever_."

* * *

Rosalie placed her face between her hands as she looked at me intently. It was my teatime which people here in America don't really do, and it was usually in the afternoon. The cafeteria in the building (if you could even call it a cafeteria; it was way fancier than a five-star restaurant) was quite empty by now, so I took advantage of the silence and enjoyed my cup of tea with crackers quietly.

"You're so English." Rose commented.

"Isn't that what I am?" I cocked an eyebrow at her.

"No, that's what your _mother_ is. You just took after her a little. You're such a weirdo." She pointed out.

"Thank you for telling me things I already know." I sarcastically said. "British stuff is all Mom's side. American side is all Dad's. Dad says I'm closer to Mom though. My little sister barely has an accent like mine and my mother's. She's closer to Dad."

"Wow." She sighed. "Speaking of your sister, how is she?" She asked, picking up a strawberry from her bowl and popping it into her mouth.

"I haven't seen Alice for one whole year. She probably... had another growth spurt or something. I don't know. I'm going for her graduation from recruit school tomorrow."

"Dude, growth spurt? Puberty for girls end at twelve. There would be no more growth spurts for girls."

"Now that is wrong. Even when puberty ends, people still grow. How many bio classes did you miss?" I asked her incredulously. "Anyways, other than her height, I don't think anything changed."

"Okay, fine. Another separate question; your definition of the perfect man." She changed the topic.

"What the hell are you trying to get out of me?" I narrowed my eyes at her, scrutinizing her every move.

She held her hands up. "Nothing."

I sighed. "Okay. Fine. The guy must be a redhead or something close to that. Somehow, I don't like blond guys. I don't even know why. The guy must also have blue eyes— scratch that, _green_ eyes. Yeah. Killer combination there. He must have abs and all, but not too buff. Like just absolutely lean and tall but not too many muscles. A little tan, because if he was totally pale, he'll just remind me of Dracula. If he's too tanned, he may have a higher chance of getting skin disease. Good kisser, definitely. Chivalrous and polite to everyone, but that cannot count in the bedroom because he's gotta dirty-talk into making me a mess in seconds. Suave talker, but not as suave as me, that's for sure... And I don't think I've got anything else." I finished.

I looked up from my cup to Rosalie after that, who was snickering. I gave her a questioning look and she finally told me what she was thinking. "You do realize that you did kinda just described... Edward Cullen, didn't you?"

"No I did not." I snapped.

"Oh really?" She went all high-pitched on me. "Redhead, green eyes, tall, lean & not too buff, good kisser, a little tanned, dirty-talker, suave and probably chivalrous. Who does that sound like?"

"He is definitely not chivalrous. He basically started sweet-talking me into his bed almost immediately!" I defended myself.

"Sweet-talk you, he did." She agreed. "But you didn't have to sleep with him to get the document, ya know. So it's definitely you. You caught his attention."

"Hey, that was part of the plan okay?" I hissed.

"But was sleeping with him part of it?" She challenged. When she didn't hear an answer from me, she smirked. "Exactly what I thought." She flicked her luscious blonde hair to her other shoulder to emphasize more on her victory on the argument with a smug smile on her face. Her blue eyes zoomed in on my cookies and she grabbed one from the plate. She nibbled on it, but I didn't care. She could take all of my cookies anyway.

* * *

First chapter up! So what do you think? Leave me your thoughts below!

Scarlett


	3. Chapter Two

I hated the fact that my whole family were spies. My parents were spies when they met, but my mother was taking a break while my father was on a mission. They met in London and had hit off pretty well. Renée always said that they never met before because they were both from different headquarters. She was from the London headquarters while Charlie was from the New York headquarters. If you hadn't realized, my parents' names are Charlie & Renée. They dated for months then got married. A year later, they had me. The next year, Alice was born.

I was the quiet and uptight one among the two of us. Alice was like a radiating ball of electricity. She was the ultimate definition of eccentric and bubbly. Even though she inherited Renée's ginger-red hair, she was closer to my father. I looked more like Charlie and I was closer to Renée, but I hadn't seen any of them in years. I was sent off to recruit school at 9 years of age and graduated from there at 12. Alice, on the other hand, entered recruit school a little later than me. She entered when she was 12 and now, at the age of 15, she was graduating.

The graduation at the SIGO recruit school was just like how I remembered mine— graduates in amber yellow graduation caps and gowns were seated at the left side of the chairs arranged while families were seated on the right. There was a ten-minute speech by Aunt Siobhan about how proud she was of the recruits and couldn't wait to see them in whatever places they were enlisted in. I knew for a fact that Alice was going to be a field agent like me.

Rosalie & I were here to watch the graduation together with Rosalie's boyfriend, Emmett McCarty. He was a field agent like me too and we all met back in recruit school. Everyone in recruit school was trained for every position they may hold in the organization. Rose was good enough to be a field agent, but she decided against it and stayed behind her technology, but followed me wherever I had to go to. Emmett was pretty much destined to be a field agent too. We shared the same grandparents which made us distant relatives. It was unusual for anyone in my family to not be in this sector of the organization.

Rosalie nudged me as Siobhan was giving her speech. "I don't see your sister anywhere." She whispered, looking at the sea of amber yellow.

"We'll see her when she comes on stage." I told her.

As recruits came up on stage to receive their diplomas, Alice's name was called out. There in Alice's position was a girl who had short black hair like a pixie and a wide smile. It took me a while to realize that Alice had dyed and cut her ginger hair.

She saw me and waved excitedly as she received her diploma. Siobhan whispered a few words into her ear and Alice nodded, her glimmering eyes still on me. After the whole graduation ceremony ended, we all quickly went to find Alice.

"I swear to god, I am going to kill her for doing that to her hair." I growled, standing up from my seat.

Rosalie rolled her eyes. "It suits her! Why are you so pissed?"

"Because it doesn't look like her!" I hissed.

"You'll get used to it, Bellsy." Emmett had his arm around me and pulled me closer to him. I groaned and crossed my arms. "I really hope this sister of yours isn't like you. You're really no fun."

I glared at him. "What do you mean I'm no fun? I _can_ be fun!"

"She's fun, alright. Little Miss Sunshine here haves fun by drinking and sleeping with guys." Rosalie smirked. "You wanna know who's her latest lay?"

"Rose," I warned.

"Who?" Emmett prompted.

"Edward Cullen. The younger one." Rosalie ignored my warning and smiled innocently.

Emmett widened his eyes. "You mean that mafia dude? Whoa, when?"

"Three days ago, when we were on a mission. She slept with him just to get that manifest about when their arms packages are coming in. We had to get that since he doesn't have it electronically. If he did, we could have just hacked into his computer." She explained. "Miss Swan is planning something on them soon."

"You already put him on the spreadsheet?" Emmett asked her.

"What spreadsheet?" I asked menacingly.

Rosalie seemed unfazed about my threatening tone. "Nothing. Just a spreadsheet."

"Rosalie, I swear—"

"Bella!" Alice shouted, earning glances at us. She ran and grabbed me into a hug. I was too shocked to hug her back. "Oh my god, I missed you!"

"What were you thinking when you did your hair?" I scolded.

She pouted. "Oh come _on_, it suits me."

"Well, I don't like it." I told her.

She rolled her eyes. "It isn't for you to judge."

"Ooh, I'm liking this one," Emmett commented, then introduced himself. "Emmett McCarty. Bella's friend."

Alice grinned up at him. Compared to him, she looked like a small ant. She was a little taller than when I saw her four years ago, but nonetheless, she was still short at 4'10". Emmett was a staggering 6'5".

"Hello Emmett. I'm Alice, Bella's sister. The younger, the bubblier and the better." She smugly smiled.

I snorted. "Yeah, sure."

"I'm Rosalie Hale," Rosalie introduced herself. "Bella's best friend."

"So how long have you guys known her?" Alice asked.

"First year of recruit school. Everyone was scared of her since she's a Swan. I befriended her first, then Emmett came along at our second year." Rosalie smiled wistfully. "I miss those times."

"Yeah, then they began to follow me wherever I went. When I went to Yale, they came along too." I glared at them. "I still remember coming back to my dorm to them making out on my couch."

Emmett grinned, putting an arm around Rosalie. "And that was when Bella knew we were dating."

"Hmm. Interesting." Alice raised her eyebrows.

"Did Mom & Dad say they were coming?" I asked Alice.

She shook her head. "Nope. You know how they are; settling the divorce papers, work, that sort of stuff."

I froze. "What divorce papers?"

Alice looked sheepish. "They never did tell you about it, did they? _Whoops_. Shouldn't have said anything. I _really_ should get going and see my teachers—"

"_Mary Alice Swan, you are not going anywhere._" I hissed.

Emmett & Rosalie looked at each other uneasily. "That's our cue to go isn't it?" Rosalie asked. When neither of us replied, they left us.

"Talk." I said.

"Mom & Dad had a big fight about things and they didn't love each other that much anymore so they decided to agree on a divorce and now they're signing the papers and all and other stuff." Alice spluttered out, never meeting my eyes.

I took in a deep breath. "How about custody?" I asked calmly.

"Dad's taking me. Mom's taking you." She said. "Why hadn't they contacted you about it?"

I closed my eyes. "I don't know. I'll call them when you get settled into the headquarters, okay?" I sighed. I spread my arms and she nodded, hugging me back.

"I missed you." She whispered.

"I missed you too." I replied.

* * *

We all then went out for some ice cream. Emmett & Rosalie shared a banana split while I had my own one and Alice had her strawberry sundae. Rosalie fed him the first bite and Emmett made a noise that obviously meant that it was awesome.

"Man, this is nice." He cheekily grinned, then looked at Rose. "Is my banana as nice as this?"

I sputtered out my ice cream in shock and stared at Emmett. "What did you just...?"

Rosalie glared at him. "I swear, Emmett, no sex for this whole month. Make any comments about our sex life in front of anyone and I will chop up your dick in your sleep."

He pouted. "Oh come on."

She shook her head. "No sex. Any form of it is not even allowed."

Alice giggled and I forgot that she was with us. I glared at Emmett. "Oh my god! You just made an _innuendo_ in front of my baby sister!" I hissed.

"Took you long enough to realize," Emmett muttered and he earned a smack on his head by Rosalie. He rubbed the sore spot Rose had hit him and kept quiet again.

"How old are you guys?" Alice asked them.

"Emmett's eighteen. I'm sixteen like Bella." Rosalie smiled.

"Oh." Alice checked her watch and frowned. "It's time for the students to go back and move out of school officially. Did you guys come in a car?"

"Rose & Em came in Rosalie's convertible, but you can put your stuff in my car." I offered.

She smiled. "Great! Let's finish up first."

We finished up with our ice cream before walking back to the school. Alice gathered her things from her dorm room. All together, she had about ten medium-sized boxes that came along with her. My mouth hung open as I stared.

"Do you really expect me to put all of that inside my car?" I asked incredulously.

"Well, you said that Rosalie came here in her own car. We can put some in yours and others in hers." She said, as if that was a relatively simple answer.

I groaned and carried a box of hers to my silver Audi A7. I opened the trunk and placed it down. My car could fit six medium boxes inside, and so we had the other boxes in Rosalie's convertible. I slid in to my car and revved up the engine, feeling it purr beneath me. Alice sat beside me and I started driving to headquarters.

She sighed. "I really need to call Mom & Dad now. They told me to."

"Never mind. I'll do it." I told her and called my mother through the car Bluetooth that was connected to my cell. She immediately picked up.

"Bella?" She said.

"Hey Mom. Alice is here with me. What did you need to call her about?" I asked.

"I just wanted to give her our graduation present for her." She replied.

"Really?" Alice squealed beside me. "What is it?"

"Oh honey, how are you?" Renée asked when she heard Alice's voice.

"I'm fine Mom. What's the present? And where's Dad?" Alice asked.

"Your father is right here with me. Alice, you will receive a set of keys once you arrive at headquarters. They're keys to your new penthouse."

Alice widened her eyes. "What?" She screamed.

I winced. "Please don't do that in my car."

Alice grinned wildly as she jumped up and down in her seat. "Oh my god! Mom, thank you so much! Tell Daddy I love him and thank you!"

"You're welcome, sweetie. Bella, are you there?" My mom asked.

"Yeah, I'm here." I replied. "I heard about the divorce."

The atmosphere quickly changed and Alice's smile was gone. Renée sighed. "I'm sorry, honey."

"When were you going to tell me?" I asked solemnly.

"Your father & I were going to tell you soon, but—"

"But what?" I snapped. "Alice had to hear about it first and I didn't. Instead, I had to hear about it from her and not from either of you guys. Mom, I haven't seen you both ever since I got enrolled into recruit school. Have you _realized_ that the only form of communication we've had is through our cellphones and the Internet? I haven't seen either of you for almost _eight_ years. I really do thank you both for everything you've given me, really, but this just needs to stop."

"Bella, we're so sorry. I know that we haven't had any physical contact, so how about a family dinner? I'll book a reservation at our usual table at Crystal on Friday, like we always did together. What do you say?" She asked softly.

"Fine. Alice?" I looked at her.

She nodded. "I'll be looking forward to it."

"Alright. I love you both." She said.

"I love you Mom." I replied and hung up on her. I tightened my grip on the steering wheel and took deep breaths, trying to calm myself down.

"Sorry about that." I cleared my throat. "We're here."

I pulled in at my parking spot and got out. Alice followed me and when we arrived at the main counter of SIGO headquarters, Maggie Brown handed me a file. "Good afternoon, Agent Swan."

"Afternoon, Maggie. What's this?" I asked.

She pursed her lips, shrugging. "All that I knew is that it's a mission related to a mafia."

I froze, then groaned. "You're _kidding_. _Please_ tell me it's not the mafia here in New York ran by Edward—"

"Nope. It's not the New York mafia, trust me. Why, anything juicy happened?" She smirked, her eyes meeting mine as she chewed on her gum.

"No. Nothing happened." I quickly snapped.

"Hmm." She didn't believe me. "This one is about the New Hampshire mafia. The leader is Aro Volturi. That guy has some drugs coming in tomorrow. You know the drill."

"Why does Aunt Siobhan keep giving me cases on gangsters?" I groaned.

"Wow. What bad experience did you have? This is your second case on gangsters." Maggie asked, leaning closer towards me behind the counter.

I rolled my eyes. "Whatever. Have the plane ready in forty minutes. Oh, and have my parents been here?"

"Yep." She said, pulling out something from the drawer beside her. She dangled a key with an address on it between her fingers. "Said it was for your younger sister."

Alice stepped up from behind me and smiled. "That's me."

"Oh. You look different than in your pictures." Maggie observed. "Anyways, here are your keys. You'll need to sign a couple of papers first then you can walk away with them."

She slid papers on the marble counter and a pen towards Alice and Alice scanned through the words on them before signing them. She then grabbed her keys and thanked Maggie.

"You're welcome. Now, about your names. There'll be two _Agent Swan_s here, so how about this— Agent A. Swan & Agent I. Swan. How does that sound like to you guys?"

"Horrible." I replied. "Just call us by our first names, Mags. Please stop your bubble gum addiction."

"Yeah yeah, whatever." She laughed. "Welcome to the Swan Intelligence-Gathering Organization, Alice Swan. Oh, and good luck, Bella." She winked at me as her pink bubble she made out of her bubble gum popped.

* * *

And so we meet Alice! What do you think of her? Oh, and I'll just give you a little something to expect the next chapter— Edward. Yeah. Bella will be seeing Edward, but just under what circumstance?

Scarlett


	4. Chapter Three

"What's the new mission, boss?" Rosalie asked, her arms crossed as she looked at me expectantly.

I rolled my eyes at her given name for me and handed her the manila file Maggie gave me. "Aro Volturi. New Hampshire mafia. Drugs." I said, only giving the keywords. She had a quick enough wit to guess correctly about the mission.

"So, Aro Volturi who is the leader of the New Hampshire mafia is dealing with drugs?" She guessed, then opened the file. "Wait, the drugs are coming in tomorrow. Why are we even getting there now?"

I rolled my eyes. "Always be prepared, remember? Anyways, here's the plan," I told her all that she needed to know and how I was going to do my thing.

She shook her head in disbelief. "Why the hell are you going there in that kind of disguise?"

I shrugged. "He has guests and he hired some company to keep them entertained. Oh, and I'm sexy enough." I joked.

She rolled her eyes. "Whatever." She went to her seat and booted up her laptop. "I just need to get the blueprints of the area so that we can plan out for the exits and all. If he finds out who we are, we...?"

"You get out of the surveillance room first so that at least one of us will make it out safely. I'll be down kickin' ass," I responded to her question.

She pressed her lips together, shrugging. "Good enough."

Once we landed in New Hampshire, we got on a black SUV that was provided by the organization and drove to a four-star hotel I booked for a night in a regular suite. The next day, we packed our bags and went to a warehouse deep in an out-of-place forest. I parked 500 meters away from the building and loaded my gun.

I scanned the area from my car seat and made a few points in my mind. "There are his men at every corner of the warehouse." I told Rosalie. "Do you have your gun with you?"

She cocked her gun, giving me a bright smile. "I think I can handle it."

We stealthily ran to the warehouse, shooting anyone who caught us. The silencer on our guns helped a lot, and we dragged the men we shot to a storage room we found. Rosalie led me to the surveillance room and we were relieved when there wasn't anyone inside. We immediately locked the door and Rosalie took out her laptop from her bag.

"Okay, so now all we need you to do is change your clothes and then get this show on the road," she said, plugging in her wires.

I rolled my eyes. "I've dreaded this day my whole life."

"Oh shut up. You'll look hot and slutty." She assured me with a non-serious tone underlining it.

I went to the corner of the dark surveillance room, my black sports bag zipped open. I changed into fishnet stockings, a short tight long-sleeved dress with a deep v-neckline and black six-inch heels. I had let my hair loose in its wavy glory and applied on red lipstick and black eyeshadow. Rosalie awaited my transformation and I allowed her to turn around and see, with me tugging down at the seams of the dress. I grimaced at how it kept on sliding up.

She whistled as loud as a guy could. "Well, fuck. You look hot. If I was a guy, I'd bang you."

I rolled my eyes. "Help me here. The material is really uncomfortable and I think I'll get rashes soon."

"You degrading hooker, you're supposed to wear stuff like this." She joked. "Play the part well."

"Any info on who's the guest, though?" I asked.

She went back to her laptop, opening up a few windows on it. She then shook her head. "Nope. Whoever it is, it must be about something important enough that they don't even put it in electronically."

"Okay, when is the supposed guest coming in?" I walked over to her where she sat on the faux leather chair.

"Ten minutes, tops." She replied, taking out a small plastic box of electronic bugs. She turned the seat and faced me, handing it over to me. "I need control over all the security cameras here, so do a sweep around the area and put one of these on each of them. I'll be able to see you clearer then."

I placed it in the small leather purse that accompanied my outfit and looked back at her. She gave me my earpiece and speaker and I wore them on quickly.

"That's all for now. Good luck, Swan." She patted my hand and I left the surveillance room quietly.

"Swan checking in." I said into the speaker on my sleeve.

"Clear." Rosalie replied. "Take the left turn. That's the first camera."

I complied and was smart enough to avoid being seen by the camera. The camera shifted right and left.

"That's good. Next." She said.

We continued pasting bugs on the cameras until I could suddenly hear the change of Rosalie's breaths in the earpiece.

"The guest is here!" She repeated. "Stay clear! Get to where the escort girls are now."

She gave me directions and soon enough in a room that looked like an office from outside was a group of girls in similar outfits like mine, and I recognized the sickly-sweet smell that I've smelled at the back of cars and car parks of beaches and movie theaters in LA.

"The managers keep the girls high?" I asked Rosalie.

"They mostly consist of kidnapped girls, so in order to keep them here, they make them smoke weed." Rosalie told me. "Anyways, get into your position. One of the men are coming to get the girls up."

I took a seat beside a blonde who looked about nineteen. She looked at me bizarrely, but I guess because she was seeing weird things due to the marijuana.

"Hey, you've got two heads." She frowned at me. "And I've never seen you here before."

"Uhm, no. You haven't seen me before." I replied.

"Your hair is so nice," she smiled, still in a daze. She touched my hair and gasped. "And it's so soft. I want your hair so bad."

I removed her hands from my hair. "Thank you." I grimaced.

The door opened and a man scanned the room before making us stand up. He gave me a strange look and I forgot that I was supposed to be acting high. After a few ridiculous comments coming from my mouth, the strange look was gone.

"Great job, Swan." Rose complimented. "Anyways— _Holy shit_."

"What?" I asked, still acting high.

"Oh man, you've gotta see this one. Oh, Emmett's gonna crack up. Let me take a picture first." She said, then I heard her phone camera click. "There. Sending now..."

"What are you talking about?" I demanded.

"Hey you," the man who was bringing the girls up hollered at me. "Walk! Are you seeing two paths or what?"

I complied and followed the rest of the escorts from behind. I was still waiting for an answer from Rosalie.

"So?" I huffed. "What were you talking about?"

"Oh, you'll see it for yourself, darling." She laughed darkly. "This is gonna be fun, but hopefully our cover doesn't blow up."

"Huh?"

"Just go." I could literally hear her roll her eyes at me as she continued laughing. I sighed, then suddenly the whole line of girls stopped walking. The man gave each of us a once-over before he called certain girls up. He pulled me to the selected group of girls and brought us to where I assumed the VIP guest was. The door opened, and I walked in, not expecting anything but some sleazy drug dealer.

Boy was I wrong.

His green eyes caught my stare and I cursed Rosalie for not telling me he was here. My mind went back to the night of my previous mission and I winced. I took the farthest seat from him while all the girls were all over him. Well, I couldn't really blame them.

"Shit, Bella," Rosalie suddenly cursed into my earpiece. "They don't put cameras in that room. When you get enough information, you get back in the surveillance room, do you understand?"

"No, I don't," I sarcastically replied. "And you should have told me Edward Cullen is here! I will murder you on the way back to NY."

Aro Volturi entered the polished lounge and opened his arms wide. "Edward, it is nice seeing you here."

Edward smiled a grim smile. "My family's business is now in my hands. I cannot just let all the reputation and hard work get away."

"Ah, yes." Aro nodded, taking a seat next to him. "My biggest condolences to your family."

"If it is, then you would have been at the funeral." Edward said bitterly.

Aro shook his head. "I was a business associate with your grandfather. Funerals are attended by family and friends."

"So why am I here?" Edward changed the subject.

"To congratulate you, of course, for being the new boss of Cullen mafia. What's a celebration without some champagne and beautiful girls?" Aro smiled.

Edward's eyes immediately flashed to me and I knew that look. Well, fuck. He smirked for a change. "You won't mind if I just have one, will you?"

Aro's eyebrows raised in curiosity. "No. You can pick whoever you want."

Edward cocked an eyebrow at me, certainty flashing across his face. I rolled my eyes inwardly.

"You." He pointed at me. "Here." He crooked a finger at me and I complied unwillingly. He pulled me and I fell into his lap. Shocked, I gave him a glare that only he could see. He chuckled and pulled me in closer.

Aro ordered his men to bring out the rest of the girls and the only people in the room now was Edward, Aro Volturi & me— with me disguising myself as a prostitute with a marijuana addiction. "I didn't only bring you here to celebrate your new title as the leader of your family business— I'm also here to propose to you some business deals." Aro had cut through our silent exchange and I started playing with Edward's bronze hair, still pretending to be high from the marijuana.

"What is it about?" Edward asked.

Aro slid a piece of paper across the marble table even though they were right beside each other. Edward picked it up and read through the document.

"I'm planning to expand throughout the country, and I was thinking that maybe you'd like to earn some profits with this." Aro explained. I managed to sneak a peek at the document.

Edward shook his head. "Well, I don't know. I never really have dealt with drugs before."

"I'll give you some time to think about it, Edward. For now, maybe you'd like to spend some time alone with her?"

Edward leaned down to my neck and started biting on the bare flesh between my neck and shoulder, eliciting an accidental moan from me. "Yes," he replied to Aro and Aro smiled.

"I hope you enjoy your visit here." He stated before leaving us alone.

A hand ghosted across my chest, goosebumps appearing on my chest. "I've missed you." Edward whispered into my ear. "I don't think my manifest is the only thing you stole. You're mine now."

"Oh no, not this again." Rosalie moaned. "You guys kill me with your sex sounds."

I smirked at Rosalie's comment. "Good."

Edward responded to my word and smashed his lips on mine roughly. He kept sucking and biting my lips, and then he would melt the pain away by licking. I felt myself turning wet and I started grinding against his erection. He kissed up my jaw to my ear, where he bit my earlobe.

"I don't think Lexi is your real name." He started.

"Why?" I panted.

"Because I wanna know whose body it is that I've owned three nights ago that I'm making sure is really mine by tonight." He kissed my neck once. "Why are you undercover at Aro Volturi's warehouse?"

"New mission." I admitted. "But I'm not telling anymore things."

"And I just somehow happened to be here. How much luckier can I get?" He growled possessively as his hand went deeper down between my legs. I jerked against his fingers as they played with my clothed clit.

"Not so much luckier." I snarkily replied, but he had me at a flick of a finger. I whimpered, burying my face in his neck and wrapping my arms around his shoulders.

"You're so wet for me, aren't you?" He seductively whispered, making me groan.

"Yes." I sank my teeth on his neck as I tried to relieve the pressure that had built up through my stomach.

"Your name, or I won't let you cum."

"My name _is_ Lexi—"

"Lies," he hissed. "Tell me now."

"No." I shook my head. "I'm not blowing my cover because of a stupid fuck."

He snarled menacingly. "You think this is stupid?"

"This is a stupid, meaningless fuck between enemies." I replied in the same tone. "I'm going."

My words seemed true to him. "Stay here and I'll let you take the document." He said. "I'll just say to Aro that I spilled rum on it and ask for another copy."

His eyes held a challenge and he knew I wasn't one to back down, so I glared at him. "Fine." I spat.

He hooked his finger into my panties and when it made contact with my pussy, it took everything in me to not cum on the spot. He thrusted one finger into me and I bit his ear softly.

"Not so brave enough to talk back now, are you?" He chuckled darkly. He inserted a second finger and I moaned. He nuzzled up and down my neck, taking in my scent. "I could just eat you right now."

"Do it," I begged.

Another finger entered me and the pressure building up exploded. I grabbed Edward by the hair and I sucked at his Adam's apple, biting and licking. He thrusted his hips against me and growled. I giggled and immediately lost focus when his fingers left my pussy. His tongue lapped up my cum as his gaze held mine erotically.

"Fuck, baby." He said. "You're the best thing I've ever tasted."

I smiled. "Why, thank you." I unbuckled his belt and unzipped his fly on his pants. I grabbed his cock and squeezed him a little. My pointer finger swept up some of his pre-cum and I placed it in my mouth. He tasted tangy and salty at the same time, which was surprisingly pleasant.

"Tease." Edward remarked as he watched me suck in my finger incessantly.

I smiled innocently at his words and sank down on him as slowly as possible. He groaned at the speed I went and I laughed. When he finally filled me up fully, I rode him fast, the pressure on my clit spurring me on. He placed his hands down my back to my ass, pulling me in as close as possible.

He came in me first and a few seconds later, I did. I peppered kisses all over his face and grinned, getting off of him and standing up. "Well, wasn't that nice." I commented.

He grabbed me by the arm, his eyes gleaming with determination. "Tell me your name."

"You don't need to know my name, but my name isn't the only thing I lied about— I'm sixteen." I told him.

"I don't care about your age. You're mine, do you understand?" He said.

"I'm nobody's except for my own. Listen, I plan on never meeting you again, but if we do, I'm not having sex with you again." Finality was strong in my voice as my jaw hardened, my mood dampened— well, other than my panties.

He smirked. "We'll see. You left your black thong a few nights ago in my hotel room and it still smells so much like you."

"Well, I took your pair of boxers and wore them on that whole night. They're very comfortable, I must say." My comeback came out strong as I folded my arms smugly. His smirk faltered a little, obviously he was imagining me in his clothes. "I'm getting out. There was only one thing nice about seeing you again." I said to him. "Rosalie, clear?"

"Ugh, finally." She spoke up through the earpiece. "The hallway is clear— get here as fast as you can because I don't think it'd take long for someone to find those bodies of the men we shot."

"Got it, Hale." I responded. I snatched up the document on the glossy table, opened the door and didn't look back at Edward even once. With my gun out of my carrier and in my hands, I was prepared to shoot anyone in my way. Luckily, my path was clear on the way to the surveillance room. When I got in, Rosalie cracked her knuckles.

"You're never with the same guy once and a mafia boss just happened to get a second time with you." She rolled her eyes. "You play the part of a whore really well that I am really convinced you are one." She mocked.

"Hey, play nice." I chastised playfully. "Let's get out."

* * *

Hey guys. So, some of you are probably thinking that she's gonna get knocked up. Actually, that's a really good idea, but nope— no more knocked-up Bellas for me. I already have three knocked-up Bellas in my stories— one who is being kidnapped, another who had a miscarriage and the last one which was about to go into labor but I placed the story on hiatus. I'm so evil.

Scarlett


	5. Chapter Four

"Bella?" Alice knocked on my door, peeking her head into my office. I looked up from the paperwork I had to complete from the mission I just finished in New Hampshire and pursed my lips.

"What is it, Alice?" I asked, tapping my fountain pen against the expensive polished wooden table.

"I, uh... I just wanted to remind you about the dinner tonight with Mom & Dad?" She replied, but sounded nervous. "Have you found something to wear? Crystal is a really fancy place, if you don't remember."

I sighed. "Yeah. I have something. Thanks for the reminder."

She gave me a small smile before closing the door behind her silently.

I had my eyes shut tightly, stress piling up on me and the pressure of my family's problems were giving me no space to breathe. My parents' divorce, their absence from my life for years... Everything. We all used to be so close together with our summer vacation trips to our London holiday home and road trips around the world, but we somehow fell apart when I was sent away to recruit school. My mother & I used to tell each other everything, but I guess all of that stopped the last time I saw the both of them— dropping me off at recruit school for my first year there. When I returned home for the holidays, they were always out, busy on missions. I always woke up on Christmas morning alone in the huge house with Alice, running down the stairs to get to the tree to see who gets there first. The gifts were nice and fancy, like my first Michael Kors bag Renée gave me on Christmas when I was eleven, but my parents were never there. They would leave notes on the presents saying that they were sorry they couldn't make it for the holidays, but the one thing that always got to me was the fact that it was computer-generated— probably the worst thing to do when you want to sound sincere.

Being the last person to know about my parents' divorce was crushing me to the bones. I couldn't believe Alice knew before me and yet she was the one I needed to shelter from the world. What was the use in being a spy with a reputable family in the business when they don't even interact with each other?

I got out of the office, leaving my papers on the table not tidied up and straight into my Audi, driving back to my penthouse that Renée & Charlie bought for me, just like how they bought one for Alice, but mine was in a different building than Alice. As usual, I entered the car elevator and waited for it to reach my floor. When it did, I got out of the car park made just for my car and flicked on all the lights. The lights were on one by one, highlighting the plain black and white family room. I headed to my shower to freshen up and I came out of the bathroom in a fluffy black robe.

I picked out a black sleeveless Alice + Olivia dress with a peplum skirt and a black pair of mesh Badgley Mischka heels. I had my hair in a French twist and just applied blush and peach-flavored lip balm. Once I was done, I drove to Crystal, an exclusive restaurant that my family used to go to when we were... well, tight. We had dinner there every month without fail, and it was always something to look forward to since everyone could dress up. We'd spend hours there talking about future holiday trips and what was happening in school.

The valet boy gawked openly at my car and I was pretty sure he was new, or else he wouldn't care about the brand of the car anymore. He opened the car door for me and when he saw me, his jaw dropped. I was certain he was starting to drool, so I glared at him.

"Keep your eyes to yourself." I snapped, then dropped the car keys into his hands. "Not one scratch on my car, or else."

He blinked repeatedly and his mouth closed, shaking his head out of his daze. "Yes, miss." He stuttered and entered the car to park it. I entered the restaurant and gave the maître d' the name the table was under. as she led me to the table, my eyes scanned the room. I caught a glimpse of bronze hair and I first thought it was Edward, but shook my head in an effort to calm myself down.

My mother stood up from her seat when I arrived at the table and her arms were wide, ready to receive a hug. I gave her what she wanted and a kiss on her cheek. I greeted my father with a kiss on his cheek too and gave a smile at Alice. I went to the remaining seat that was left empty beside my mother and sat there. After we all ordered our food, there was an uncomfortable silence settling between all four of us.

Charlie cleared his throat. "So, Bella, how have you been doing? We've missed you. Look how much you've grown."

I faked a smile. "Thanks Dad. You look kinda great too. I'm just busy with work and stuff. You know, the usual. I went to New Hampshire yesterday and managed to get the job done."

His eyebrows raised at my answer, then looked at Alice. "Has your Aunt Siobhan given you any work yet?"

Alice shook her head. "She wants me to get settled in first then I can start."

"It's tough out there, this business." Renée remarked. "Be careful on your first and don't let them know that it's your first time on a real job."

Alice nodded. "Sure. Anyways, thanks for the house. I love it."

Charlie cracked a smile beneath his thick mustache. "Of course you do. Bella, how are you coping with yours?"

"My house is fine. It still has the smell of fresh furniture in the rooms." I attempted to make a joke, but found myself laughing at how nervous I was.

"Maybe we'll visit." Renée said.

"Wow. Visiting. I'm not really sure if I'll even be at home—"

"Nonsense. I am sure you will be." She swirled her Pinot Noir in her flute slowly, her eyes on me expectantly. She placed the side of the glass between her lips and took a sip of the alcohol. "We can then catch up—"

"No going to my house." I said in a firm tone that startled everyone at the table, including myself. "How about catching up _now_? How about telling me what I have missing, or in other words, what you two have been keeping from me?"

"The divorce is being finalized as we speak," said Charlie. "The custody too, and Alice is coming with me while you are going with your mother—"

"Custody?" I laughed at the word. "Custody over what? Us? Let me just remind you that all of us here are living under different roofs now, and checking up on what time I've been coming back home is ridiculous considering the fact that you don't even live with us. Let's just accept the fact that we all are only going to gather during Thanksgiving, Christmas & New Year's Eve. I doubt that we're all going to see each other during whatever non-significant holidays too, unless you'd like to make a change about this and stop declining my invitations to holiday parties."

"Bella, we can't just do that. We have a lot of work and—"

"Work." I repeated. "Work is what keeps you all away from family, isn't it?" I asked slowly. "Haven't you gathered enough money to buy five houses in the South of France? What is so significant about work other than money? Is it addicting? Oh wait, I've got the answer— you guys are workaholics. You guys are getting a divorce because you both think that your other half is pulling you down."

When none of them answered, I shook my head. "You know what, having dinner with you guys is no use, because you all are still as distant as you all can be physically. I just... I can't—" I stopped, then raised my hand to catch the attention of some waiter. When a waiter came, I smiled my most dazzling smile at him and requested for a mojito. He immediately complied and I got my drink in half a minute. My parents' watchful eyes laid on the full glass that was decorated with a mint leaf. Staring at them, I drank half my glass up in one go to see their reactions.

When I placed my glass down, I rolled my eyes. "I'm not even sure why I wanted to test you guys by drinking this. I bet you guys didn't even care when Aunt Siobhan told you guys about my drinking problem that started earlier this year, did you? Or were you all just not listening to what she was saying? Aunt Siobhan is more of a parent than you guys, and she's given more quality time than you both have through your phones and whatever fancy gadgets there is in the twenty-first century. It's saddening, really."

Alice shot me a look and placed her hand on mine, tapping out her message on my palm discreetly in Morse Code.

_Don't put them through this. They are our parents no matter how they treat the both of us._ She told me. I quickly removed my hand from hers and held my drink again, finishing up the glass before I stood up. "I'm sorry, but I need to use the ladies'." I said, as if I was having a meeting with business associates rather than dinner with family. I took my purse and walked briskly towards the ladies' room. I needed to find a private place to break down so that I wouldn't humiliate myself, and that was the perfect spot to do exactly just that.

With my fringe and strands of loose brown hair covering my face, I looked down, not making any eye contact with anyone on the way to the bathroom. I pushed the door of the bathroom and locked myself up in a cubicle, taking a deep breath in. I could smell floor sanitizers and the occasional spray of floral air purifiers as I placed my head between my head, my eyes closed. Tears found their way out of my tightly-shut eyes and slipped down my face. I sobbed and wiped the tears quickly in an attempt to stop them altogether.

The headache caused by my dysfunctional, workaholic parents outside wasn't subsiding no matter how hard I had hit my fist against the side of my head. I cried harder and when I checked the time on my silver watch, realizing that I had been inside for nearly half an hour, I made sure there wasn't anyone else inside the bathroom before I left the cubicle.

Tears still left my eyes and when I heard a knock or two on the bathroom door, I jumped. I wondered who was it who knocked on the bathroom door when they could just enter. It was a public bathroom after all.

When I didn't respond, the door opened widely and I took deep breaths, trying to calm myself down as I stared at my reflection. "_Oh my_— Edward, what the hell are you doing here?"

"I... I just wanted to check in on you. You hadn't been out for a long time and by the look of what happened at your table, it didn't seem good..." He trailed off as he stared at my reflection too. His jaw suddenly hardened and he swiftly walked to my side, making me face him with his hands on my bare arms. My breath caught as his green orbs examined my face. His fingers traced my cheeks and as they slid across, I could feel the evidence of my tears there. Quickly, I pulled his hand down and wiped whatever stray tears there was left.

I looked down at the sink. "What are you doing here in the ladies' bathroom?"

"I needed to check up on you. I didn't expect you to be here in this restaurant but I was here." He explained. "I own this restaurant."

Oh shit. "Oh. Uhm, I guess I really should get going and—"

"Come on, beautiful. Tell me what happened." He coaxed.

I shook my head. "No. This is just simply just personal. I shouldn't be even talking to you— I mean, we're enemies and all. You'll probably hold this against me or something."

"I won't. You just have to tell me what happened. Please." He said.

I hesitated, then summarized the whole conversation at the table to him. "My parents have always... not been there. Even when I graduated from schools, they were never there. When my sister graduated a few days ago, they never showed up." I said it so fast I was sure my tongue tripped over a word or two. I stood away from Edward, my hand holding my other arm as I bit my lip. "It was a mistake to even force them to meet up with me and my sister."

Edward unexpectedly grabbed me into a hug and I tensed. His thumb kept rubbing the small of my back and his hand held my head as if it was gonna fall off. "You know what, let's get out of here together." He offered.

"Edward, I can't—"

"If they upset you like that and they know how their actions have hurt you, I think they will allow you to have some time for yourself and walk away." He reasoned. "Come on."

I pursed my lips, but nodded. He continued holding me to his chest and we got out of the bathroom, earning stares. Edward kept his protective stance around me while I just followed the speed of his feet to keep myself from tripping. I caught my family's eyes— Alice's jaw dropped while my parents stared blankly at our escape. I looked up at Edward and then out at the entrance, where we were making our exit.

"I drove here, so I don't think—"

"I'll make sure to bring you back here so that you can take your car back home. I'm just taking you out for a small tour." He told me.

"Tour?" I frowned. "I'm sorry, but if you think I'm some foreigner here, I'm not."

He chuckled at my response and when a silver Volvo pulled up, he opened the front passenger's seat for me and I gladly entered. He then got to his driver's seat and started driving.

"Are you... Are you kidnapping me?" I couldn't help but ask.

"You're a spy, and yet you ask if I'm kidnapping you?" He laughed.

"Is that a yes or a no?"

"I'm not kidnapping you, because kidnapping would mean taking you away without your permission." He looked at his side mirror and focused on the road again. "Put on your seatbelt."

I rolled my eyes, but complied. We sat in silence and my finger twitched towards the radio. I pressed the on button and found that there was a CD inside. The car just continued to play whatever song it was playing. To my surprise, there was nothing but soft music coming from a piano.

I raised my eyebrows. "Interesting taste of music you have here, Mr. Cullen."

"I've been told that a lot." He shrugged.

"How to Save a Life." I blurted out as I recognized the melody the piano played.

Edward nodded. "Correct. Do you play any musical instruments?"

I fidgeted in my seat. "Well, the violin?"

"You don't sound like you're sure of yourself."

"I'm still an amateur. I never really could find the time for it, but I try to." I replied. "You?"

"Piano. I've been playing since I was a child." He smiled.

"That's nice." I commented.

Our conversation was a stalemate, ending with my polite comment. I fiddled with the zip of my purse and my head snapped up when I thought I head him ask a question.

"What?"

"What's your name?" He asked.

"I don't think I should even give you my name." I bit my lip, refraining myself from smiling.

"Come on, we're outside of work now and we're kind of getting to know each other personally. I'd like to put a name to a face. Please."

"Bella."

"Beautiful," he muttered to himself and I resisted the urge to roll my eyes again.

"Hey, it isn't the first time I've heard someone tell me that. Multiple of guys have used that pickup line on me." I teased.

"Did you turn them down?" He asked, a little too curious.

"Well... all of them got turned down. I've never really gotten into a relationship before. It's all just one-night-stands for me." I admitted.

He suddenly parked next to a building that had a sidewalk separating it from the main road.

"We're here." He said.

* * *

Oh, where did Edward bring her to? AND SHE FINALLY TOLD HIM HER NAME. LOL. Anyways, what do you think is going to happen? Leave your thoughts below!

I have FINALLY made a schedule for when I'm gonna update my stories, including AF. Full schedule is posted on my profile and it will officially start on Tuesday, where my other story Bravado is going to be updated.

Scarlett


	6. Chapter Five

The doorman tipped his hat towards Edward as we entered the building. "Mr. Cullen," he greeted.

Edward nodded in acknowledgement as his left arm remained wrapped around my waist. I glanced around the place and when the elevator opened, he tapped a key card from his pockets on the censor before pressing the floor button. He then keyed in a four-number password and the elevator started to move. I stared at him from the corner of the elevator and he turned to face me. Memories of us in the casino elevator attacked my mind and I shook my head. My eyes found their way to his lips.

_His lips._

My skin tingled as I remembered how they felt on my skin. I took a step forward unknowingly and held his arm, glancing at his lips again. He looked down at me and wrapped that arm around me again. Tip-toeing a little on my black heels, I pressed my lips against his softly. His moulded around mine and my hands were on his shoulders. The elevator chimed and almost immediately, we pulled away.

The doors opened to reveal a full black and brown family room. There was only one vase of white flowers to complement the masculinity of the place. Leather and wood was the main materials that adorned the penthouse.

"Welcome to my place," Edward finally said. He looked at my face to search for anything, but all he probably found was nothing.

"You brought me to your place?" I asked. "Why?"

"I thought you needed some place to escape to. Your parents and sister are probably trying to find you and obviously, the first place they would go to is your home." He explained, his hand rubbing the back of his neck. "They don't know me, so—"

"Edward, my whole family are spies. They can get anyone's information just by one phonecall." I deadpanned.

He smirked. "Now, that is where you are wrong. In order to keep my enemies away, I have this house under one of my aliases. The house with my actual name is in Manhattan."

I folded my arms, pursing my lips. "I still don't understand why you brought me to your place instead of somewhere else."

"I figured that maybe you'd rather go to someplace where you can stay. If you stayed at a hotel, your family will be able to track you down just by one swipe of your credit card." He looked at the ottoman leaning against the wall and back at me. "You can take a seat."

I walked over to the ottoman and complied. Edward went into the open kitchen and bent down to look through the small wine cellar he had. "What's your preference? Scotch, cocktails, rum—"

"I can't take alcohol." I told him. "I, uh... I'm recovering."

"But you were drinking just now—"

"It was to see whether my parents cared, but they didn't." I admitted.

He sighed, going over to the sink to grab a cup and fil it up with water. He placed it in front of me on the coffee table. I gratefully took it to wash down the aftertaste of the mojito I had in Crystal. He took a seat beside me.

"So..." I started awkwardly.

He laughed. "You don't need to make conversations, Bella."

I sighed in relief inwardly.

"Do you want to watch TV?" He offered, picking up the remote and holding it out to me.

"I... thought you said you wanted to show me around." I reminded him.

He raised his eyebrows. "So you really want to look around?"

I shrugged. "I don't mind."

He stood up and I copied his action. He showed me every room in the penthouse, including his bedroom. Every single room was filled with dark colors, and I kind of loved that. In his bedroom was a black glossy piano at the corner, together with a violin on its stand. An artpiece hung above the headboard of the bed and a wooden door to the wardrobe was attached to the wall. White bedside tables were at each side of the bed together with lamps.

I walked over to the violin in the stand and looked at him in disbelief. "You play the violin too?"

He shook his head. "I don't. That is just a decorative piece that my mother thought would be a complement to the piano."

"May I?"

He nodded.

I picked up the violin and wiped the dust off the strings with my hand. With the French bow that accompanied the instrument, starting to play Tchaikovsky's The Sleeping Beauty theme. I took deep breaths, steadying my hands in order to not make a mistake. When I was done, I kept the violin under my chin on my shoulder.

"Are you sure you don't really play the violin? How long have you been playing?" Edward asked in astonishment.

"It's been ten years." I replied. "I started when I was six. The only reason why I posed my answer as a question in the car was because I wasn't sure if I could still play... I guess I still can."

He chuckled, shaking his head side to side. "What else have I not known about you?"

"Well, alot." I retorted. "You know, letting a stranger let alone a _spy_ into your house is really... gullible. Okay, I don't even think you're cut out to be a mafia boss." I laughed. "Do you let just about anyone in?"

"Only you." He responded.

I frowned. "Really?"

He shrugged. "Yeah. My family members don't like coming in this house. They say that because of the black walls here, they're always bitten by mosquitoes because they can camouflage but so far, no mosquito bites on me."

"Should I be worried?" I arched an eyebrow at him.

"No. Not at all." He paused, his eyebrows crunching up together. "You can stay here for as long as you like. I really don't mind."

"I can't stay here. _Hell_, I don't think I can even sleepover for a night. I gotta go home—"

"Look, do you live alone or with a friend?" He asked.

I hesitated about telling him such details. "Alone." I blurted.

"I'm assuming that you don't even have a curfew, so come on," he took a step towards me, pulling my hand that held the violin into his. "Stay."

I sighed. "Okay, fine. Gosh, you're so persistent."

He grinned. "Glad to know."

I pushed him away at his shoulder, laughing. "Oh shut up. So if I'm staying here, I need to go back home and grab my overnight bag—"

"There's no need for an overnight bag here." He interrupted.

"Then what the hell am I supposed to wear?" I told him. "This until tomorrow morning?" I pointed at my formal dress.

"Obviously not," then his voice lowered, "but I don't mind you walking around here naked."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "No. Edward, I already told you the last time we met that we aren't gonna sleep together the next time we see each other which is basically now."

"Fuck that." He whispered. The next thing I knew was that the violin was out of my hand and on the floor. Edward grabbed me by the shoulder as his lips captured mine in a heated kiss. I tried to push him off, but all I got from him was a command: "Stop fighting me," he mumbled against my lips. I complied immediately.

I felt the zipper of my dress go undone at my back as he pulled me to his body closely. My hands were on his chest, ready to push him away for more air if I ever felt the need to breathe but it seemed as though _I_ was the air he needed to breathe— his need and hunger for me vibrating through the air intensely. His fingertips traced down my bare back and I whimpered at his touch. I could feel him smile as he kissed down my jawline to my shoulder. I felt him pulling me to his bed and when I fell on it, I could hear waves of water. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. Bachelor beds.

"Why do you have a waterbed?" I asked.

He chuckled darkly. "It's great for other uses than sleeping." Before I could reply him snarkily, he already had my dress off in no time. We were soon just naked limbs tangled together in a haze of pleasure shared among the both of us. His kisses burned through my skin as he whispered words that were considered cheesy to me but somehow for him, it worked on me.

* * *

I woke up suddenly from my sleep. Edward's arms and legs were hooked over my body as I faced the left side of the bed, making sure I couldn't leave. I heard something vibrating incessantly. Making sure Edward didn't wake up, I lifted my purse off the bedside table and took out my phone. The screen was lit up due to the recent text that just came. I glanced at the time on the phone. 2349 hours. Well, fuck.

33 missed calls from Alice, 27 from Rosalie, 11 from Emmett and 5 from my mother were highlighted in red on my call log. The texts were the ones I wanted to avoid the most, but I just had to see them.

_Bella where are youuuuuuuuuuuuu? Call me when you get this AY-SAP._

_Alice_

_BELLA MOM AND DAD ARE FREAKING OUT. AND WHO WAS THAT GUY YOU LEFT WITH OMFG IF YOU DON'T TELL ME I WILL KICK DOWN YOUR DOOR._

_Alice_

_Rosalie said she tried to call you but couldn't reach you. WHERE ARE YOU OMFG YOU HAVE TO ANSWER ME RIGHT NOW OR I WILL HOTWIRE YOUR CAR AND MAKE SURE IT FALLS OFF THE NEAREST CLIFF IN NEW YORK._

_Alice_

_ROSALIE SAID THE GUY YOU LEFT WITH WAS A MOB BOSS! ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME? BELLA, WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU GET YOURSELF INTO? CALL ME BACK._

_Alice_

_BELLAAAAAAAAAAA WHY DIDN'T YOU TEXT ME WHEN YOU SAW EDWARD CULLEN? YOUR SISTER IS FREAKING OUT ON ME AFTER I TOLD HER WHO HE IS WHEN SHE DESCRIBED HIM TO ME. ARE YOU GUYS FUCK-BUDDIES OR SOMETHING?_

_Rosalie_

_MOM AND DAD ARE ONE PHONECALL AWAY FROM FINDING OUT THAT THE GUY YOU LEFT WITH IS A MOB BOSS. I'M TRYING TO DISTRACT THEM FROM THEIR CELLPHONES SO THAT THEY WON'T MURDER HIM BECAUSE OF THIS. CALL ME. NOW._

_Alice_

I massaged the bridge of my nose as I read the most recent text message. Stressed out and motivated enough to calm Alice down, I removed Edward's arms and legs off me. I walked to the piano and sat down, dialing Alice's number. She picked up before the first tone could even start.

"Bella, I _will_ stab the shit out of you if you don't tell me where you are right now." Alice hissed into the speaker.

"I... I'm at his house—"

"You mean the mob boss's house?" She interrupted. "Are you _sleeping_ with him?" She gasped.

"If you mean now, no."

Her breath hitched dramatically. "Why the fuck are you sleeping with him? He's the _leader_ of a _mafia_, for fuck's sake! He will kill you if he knows what you are!"

"Alice, stop cursing at me or else I will cancel your credit card." I warned. "And well, he... He knows."

"Bella, I seriously feel like tearing your hair out before tearing mine but I can't because I don't know where exactly you are." She told me, horrifyingly calm. "Mom & Dad put me in charge of getting through to you. They are letting you off the hook for leaving us with some hot guy and they promised me they won't even search through that guy's information."

"Why would they care anyways? Why would they care if I'm sleeping with a mob boss when they barely even care about us?" I snapped.

"Because they're our parents!" Alice replied in the same tone. "Look, they may have done a lot of wrong in their personal lives, but they're still our parents and we still need to treat them with respect. The fact that they're gone almost all the time is the reason why they don't know how to act around their teenage daughters."

"Whatever. I have to go." I sighed. "I'll call you tomorrow when I reach home."

"You better." She said before hanging up.

I walked back to the bed and slid back into the position I was sleeping in before I left the bed. Unfortunately, I wasn't careful enough since Edward woke up from my movements.

"Where are you going?" His voice was heavy with sleep which I found extremely adorable, weirdly.

"Nowhere." I assured him. "Yet."

His chest rumbled as he laughed softly. "We're never going to leave this bed."

"I will and you won't." I retorted.

His arms tightened around me. "No, you're not going to leave me on this bed alone."

I stretched up to give him three soft pecks on his lips. "Fine. Only because I can't seem to get enough of you."

A small smile emerged on his face victoriously. "I am going to remember that line forever."

As I waited for him to go back to sleep, I found myself staring into thin air as everything was repeating over and over in my mind. Reflecting on myself, I didn't think of what others might have thought of everything going on in my life— my younger sister telling vulgarities at me, my dysfunctional parents kind of showing that they cared about me and my third time sleeping with the leader of the mafia ruling New York, probably tarnishing my reputation as a Swan. With the way Edward was being towards me, I could add a little assumption that could even be true— him falling in love with me.

Either way, I was screwed to the depths of hell.

* * *

Sigh. Anyways, you guys are _lovelyyyyyyyy_. The fact that I updated five hours earlier is proof that I love ya'll. *grins*

Scarlett


	7. Chapter Six

0430 hours.

That was my usual wakeup time. Unsurprisingly, even when I was off missions, I still woke up at this time. Considering that I slept at ten after Edward & I's bedroom time (there is a difference between bedroom time and bedtime— a _big_ difference), I still got enough time to recover from the previous day.

My eyes flew open and the orange light of the digital clock glared at me in the dark. Crawling out of Edward's grasp, I headed to his gym in the house. Yep, the man had a big gym in it. Flicking the lights on, I looked around for shorts and a t-shirt that I could use. Fortunately, there was. I quickly changed into that and turned on his treadmill that faced the New York skyline. It was beautiful since it was still very dark, but the city lights never ceased. There were almost no cars and very little amounts of people on the streets. I turned off the lights to enjoy the atmosphere and plugged in to some classical music to fit the view.

I ran on the treadmill for thirty minutes and grabbed the yoga mat provided to do some relaxation exercises. I watched the sun come up in peace and when I figured it was time to end, I got into the kitchen and started cooking some pancakes. Slicing strawberries, I heard the pitter-patter of footsteps getting closer. He appeared in only Calvin Klein boxers, making me think he was ready for a photoshoot to promote the brand. His hair was in its usual unkempt bronze mess and his eyes dulled in sleepiness.

And let's just say that his abs made me want to spray whip cream on them and lick it off.

I looked away to stop myself from ogling and cleared my throat. "Good morning."

He gave me a pout. "I woke up alone this morning."

I rolled my eyes. "Aren't you supposed to everyday?"

"I thought today would be special." He said, moving around the island to give me a kiss on my lips. "Hmm, what's that you're making?"

"Pancakes with strawberries. Anything else you want to eat?" I asked.

"You look delectable in my clothes. I might just eat you for breakfast." He gave me a dark and sexy smirk which I ignored.

I turned to tend to the pancakes but Edward slapped my ass. I snapped my head at him, glaring. He shrugged.

I looked back at the flipped pancake. "Asshole." I muttered under my breath.

I could feel him breathing down my neck as he pulled my body close to his. "What was that?" He whispered, his lips nibbling at my earlobe.

"Nothing." I said nonchalantly.

"Hmm." He didn't believe me. His hands that were at my waist moved up slowly until they cupped my breasts. He massaged them as he kissed down my neck. "I have a problem here and maybe you can help me."

I could feel his erection digging into the small of my back. "I _can_ help you but I won't. Take a cold shower." I replied simply.

"Come on, don't spoil this for me." He grazed his teeth at the top of my shoulders.

"Already did. Take a cold shower now and then come back for the pancakes." I told him off.

He growled. "No."

"Edward, I'm not in the mood for this. Go. Now."

One hand of his left my breast and dipped into the shorts. He hissed when he found that I wasn't wearing anything underneath and his fingers collected pre-cum.

"Saying you're not in the mood when you actually are— denying is what keeps you from getting what you want and need."

I switched off the stove fire and turned to face him. My never-withering glare was fixated on his face. "It's a _want_, not a need. If you want sex, you're gonna have to wait." I pushed his plate of pancakes at his bare chest. "Eat."

He took the plate and his hand under my shorts left. He sucked my pre-cum on his fingers with his eyes never leaving mine. "I'll eat, but I still prefer you for every meal of the day, including breakfast."

"Okay." I said. "Now just sit down. I need to do mine."

I cooked my pancakes and finished them up in probably five minutes and considering that there were six on my plate, I was truly hungry. I drank the milk from the fridge and cleaned up after myself, putting my plate and utensils into the dishwasher. I smirked at Edward when he finished his breakfast.

"Bathtub. Now."

* * *

After an hour or so of thorough fucking, we finally got out of the bathroom and I wore on the dress I wore last night. I grabbed my purse and slid my heels on my feet. Edward got dressed in a white button-down and jeans.

When we went into his car, Edward spoke up, bringing up a subject I never expected him to.

"So what are we?"

I stared at him in shock. "I thought the girl usually asks that."

"You stereotype too much." He commented.

"Thank you for telling me something I don't know." I rolled my eyes, but went back to the main topic. "I don't really know what we are, I guess. Fuck-buddies?"

"I don't think so." He shook his head slowly. "I want to take you out tomorrow. Chinatown?"

My eyes widened. "You mean you want to take me out on an official date to Chinatown?"

He shrugged.

"Edward... you want me to be your girlfriend, don't you?" I asked in a low, cautious tone.

"I guess I want you to." He said after a minute.

"Oh god." My fingers threaded through my hair, my already-wide eyes widening some more. "This is impossible."

"What's impossible?"

"Can't you see?!" I snapped. "_Us_! We can't be together! We can never _be_ together! You're a _mob boss _and I'm a_ secret agent_! I work on the side of the law while you... work against it! How is this relationship supposed to work?!"

"Bella, our careers don't define who we are. I don't care if you're a spy. I don't care if you destroy my reputation. I just want you and I don't know why." He admitted.

"Edward..." I didn't know what to say.

"I said this too soon, didn't I? I'm sorry. I shouldn't have—"

"No, you told me at exactly the right time. I just don't know how to react." I told him. "I guess... I guess we can give it a try."

A hint of relief appeared on his face. "I'll pick you up from your place." He took out his cell from his pocket and passed it to me. "Give me your number then text your phone from mine."

I did what he said and I saved his number into my phone. I texted him my address and placed his phone on his lap.

"Pick me up at six. I'll give you some notice if I have anything coming up tomorrow." I told him when we arrived at Crystal to get my car. The valet gave me my keys and I was about to open my car door until Edward pinned me to it and made me face him. He pressed his lips softly against mine, surprising me. Unlike the other kisses he usually gave me, this one was sweet and calming. I kissed him back, my hands finding their way to his soft hair.

He pulled away, his green eyes gazing into my brown ones. "I'll miss you sleeping in my bed." He whispered.

My lips pulled up into a smile. "Whatever. I have to go now."

He gave me another kiss. "Me too. I'll see you tomorrow."

I entered my car and drove away to my penthouse, his kisses still lingering on my skin. Entering my house, I felt oddly alone. I didn't mind being alone, but suddenly, it felt strange.

Must have been because I'd spent too much time with Edward. Yep, I was screwed.

* * *

"So what you're trying to say is that you guys are... _dating_?" Rosalie emphasized.

"After this date, I guess we officially are." I replied.

Her eyebrows shot up. "Damn. Bella, I need to show you something. You know how Emmett & I are always talking about the 'spreadsheet'?" She stood up from her seat and moved around to the back of her table set. She took something from behind and I saw a cork board in her hands. She flipped it to the other side and I saw what it was. "This is the spreadsheet." She said, searching for anything on my face.

In each boxes of the spreadsheet were dates, names and remarks. It was a simple piece of document, but the spreadsheet was long.

"And you are _obviously_ expecting me to sleep with _many_ other guys— that is what the empty columns are saying." I told her. "Are you?"

She pressed her lips together. "I guess Emmett & I weren't expecting you to finally start dating guys so soon. We started this as a joke, but..."

"It's creepy that you keep a record of my one-night-stands." I stared at the cork board.

The boxes that got my attention the most was the ones with Edward's names. His name was listed down three times— the latest one dated last night. Under the remark for my first time sleeping with Edward was _BADASS _written in Emmett's scrawny handwriting. The second time I slept with Edward got me another remark written in Rosalie's handwriting: _She never sleeps with the same guy twice. NEVER._

The third time I slept with Edward had a long remark written by Rosalie again: _Left in the middle of family dinner and SLEPT WITH HIM. AGAIN. FUCKBUDDIES?_

"The next column should be filled by now." I just said, a hint of humor underlining my tone.

She stared at me in disbelief. "You guys fucked? _Again_? Shit, Bella. You're killing me here." She grabbed a green sharpie and popped open the cap, writing down Edward's name again for the fourth time on the spreadsheet. "When was it? Today?" She asked.

I nodded, trying to keep my laugh in. "In his bathtub." I added.

Under the remark section, she wrote it all in caps. _BATHTUB? HOLY SHIT._

My phone vibrated non-stop in my pocket all of a sudden. I took it out to find Alice's name under the caller ID. I picked it up immediately.

"Bella?" She started. "You need to get back to HQ _now_."

"Why is that?" I asked, my eyes on Rosalie. Curiosity was written all over her face.

"There are pictures of you and that mob boss leaving the restaurant together last night and Aunt Siobhan unfortunately saw them." Alice explained. "She wants to talk to you ay-sap, and I don't think this is going to be good."

* * *

EARLY UPDATE! I just figured I'd do this so that I can focus more on the next story to update. Sigh. And Edward & Bella are finally getting a go at it (LOL), so what do you think? Oh, and what do you guys think about Alice's phone call? Ughhhhh, I want to sleep now, so I'm gonna just go. If it's nighttime at your area, good for you. I'm going to try and sleep with the sunlight on my face.

Scarlett


	8. Chapter Seven

"Alice, oh god, why didn't you do anything when you saw her look at the pictures?" I hissed under my breath when I was outside my aunt's office.

"I didn't see the pictures at first!" Alice replied back. "They were on her table, all laid out for her! Have you forgotten how _well-watched_ our family is?"

"Agent Swan, I know you are outside my office, so come in. The _both_ of you." Siobhan's voice crackled over the speaker in the hallways and we both froze. I glared at Alice and she glared back at me. Knocking on the door twice before coming in, we gave our most decent smiles at Siobhan.

She had her fountain pen in her hand with her reading glasses perched on the bridge of her nose. Her red hair was up in a bun as she looked down at the paperwork she was doing. "I assume you both know why you are here."

"Well, Miss Swan," Alice started. "I have her here. Am I dismissed?"

She nodded, her head still down. "Thank you Alice. Bella, take a seat please."

Alice smirked at me as she leisurely walked out of the office victoriously. Once the door was closed, I sat down on the leather seat in front of Aunt Siobhan's desk. She placed her pen down and pushed away the paperwork she was doing. I cringed, knowing that she was going to pay me her full attention.

"Another agency snapped these pictures and were on my desk the minute I entered my office," she took out A4 sized pictures of Edward wrapping his arms around me protectively from the night at Crystal. "Thankfully, I took care of them and they are never going to interfere. What do you see in these pictures, Isabella?"

I winced when she called me by that name. "Edward Cullen? And me?" I grimaced inwardly.

She shook her head. "That isn't all of what I see, Isabella. _This_ is a start of a relationship. _This_ is a start of conflict. _This_ is forbidden, and _you_ know that. Tell me— are you interested in him romantically?"

I hesitated. "Probably." I didn't give her a definite answer.

Her eyebrows rose. "Now, tell me how old he is and how old you are."

"He's... twenty-one." I pursed my lips. "I'm sixteen."

"I don't think you will need someone to tell you how far apart in age you both are. I mean, I am fine with the age gap, but what concerns me is that dating an underaged person is frowned upon and in the eyes of the law, sexual intercourse with an underaged person is considered rape, no matter if the underaged person gave his or her consent. I have let you off so many times for all the mistakes you've made, but I expect you to learn from them. I know that you are growing up and trying to find yourself, but you need to know what are the boundaries and when to not push them to the limits. I am talking to you as your aunt and your boss, trying to give you as much useful advice as possible. You are trying to improve yourself and I appreciate that, don't get me wrong, but this relationship cannot go on unless if you really want it to go on, I am forced to give you missions that are not related to gangsters and mafias. I don't mix business with pleasure. You guys are young and I accept that, but don't start a war that both sides will have to end." She sighed. "Will you continue on with this relationship or not? If not, you will never handle gangs and mobs ever again."

"I... I have a date tomorrow, so I don't think this relationship isn't going to end." I admitted.

She gave me a small smile. "Interesting. Keep me updated about your relationship. For now, you are dismissed, Agent Swan."

I stood up slowly, still registering what she said. _Interesting_?_ Keep me updated about your relationship_? That was just weird. When I was out of her office, I shrugged to myself, not knowing whether she approved of us or not.

* * *

A knock on the door made me jolt up from my vanity table. I scrambled from my seat and walked to my main door. I pulled down my blue Yale University cotton pullover and cleared my throat before I opened the door.

There stood Edward in a kind-of-tight gray shirt with the words _STANFORD ALUMNI _written in red, showing off his ripped chest through it. Blue jeans and a pair of black sneakers finished off the look for him with his hair still wet. One hand was mysteriously out of my sight, behind his back.

I narrowed my eyes. "Did you just take a shower?" I asked, reaching up to ruffle up his already-messy hair.

"Well, yeah. I ran at Central Park this afternoon and then took a shower." He explained. "You graduated from Yale?"

I looked down at my pullover. "Well, yeah. Last year. When did you graduate from Stanford?"

"Last month." He shrugged. "I skipped a grade in elementary school."

"How did we ever end up wearing our college tees for a first date?" I laughed.

"You're the one with the spy equipment— maybe you planted a bug into my penthouse." He smiled.

"Uh, no. Like I will _ever_ do that." I rolled my eyes. "Come on, let's go."

"Wait." He suddenly said. His hand from behind came in view and he held a bouquet of roses. A blush tinted his cheeks. "Here's your very first flowers from me."

I felt the sides of my lips go up and my teeth flashed. I covered my eyes with my hands as I muffled a giggle. He really looked like a shy lovestruck college upperclassman with his t-shirt and the bouquet rather than an intimidating and sexy mafia leader. Well, he still was sexy.

"Thank you." I managed to say with my wide smile that was starting to hurt. I took the roses from him and kissed him on the cheek before running to the kitchen to get a mug filled with water to put to flowers in. After I did that, we headed out to Chinatown.

Edward drove to a Chinese restaurant's drive-thru and took out a menu from the compartment of his car. He gave it to me. "Pick whatever you want."

I stared at the menu. "Dumpling noodles with Pepsi."

He told the person taking down the order what I wanted and he got himself Peking duck noodles with a Dr. Pepper. We got our orders in small little white cartons and Edward paid, since he was after all the one who asked me out. I was about to break the attached wooden chopsticks until Edward spoke up.

"Don't eat just yet."

I laughed, nudging him in the rib. "Are you afraid that I'll be enjoying my food while you're stuck driving?"

"Well, kind of." He answered, a smile on his face. "We'll eat while we walk around the streets."

"Eating while walking isn't good, you know." I chastised playfully.

"Who in New York cares anyways?" He shrugged. "I think you're the only one who does."

He parked at the side of the street and he got out first. I was about to open my door when it opened without me even touching it. Edward was bending towards me, giving me his crooked smile— the one I loved.

I didn't know what this man was doing to me.

He held his hand out and I grabbed onto it, getting out of the car. He didn't let my hand go as we walked down the road.

"What do people usually say on first dates?" Edward asked.

I looked up at him in shock. "You've never been on a date before?"

"Hey, you cannot necessarily blame it all on me. You've never been on a date before either." Edward gave me a peck on my forehead.

"Okay, fine." I rolled my eyes. "I'll start first. I'm Isabella Marie Swan, but I prefer Bella. I'm sixteen this year and I'll turn seventeen when thirteen September comes next year. I enjoy discovering music and practicing my shooting. I graduated from Yale University last year with a degree in chemical engineering and I now have a career in espionage because it's been in my family for as long as I can remember. My best friend is Rosalie Hale, who is also my partner for my given missions. I have a sister named Alice who is a year younger. People say that your favorite color reflects on your personality, and my favorite color is gray. I drive a silver Audi A7 and... I guess that's all." I said.

He raised his eyebrows at me. "That's a lot to remember."

"I don't know what people talk about on first dates. You cannot necessarily blame it all on me." I smirked. Tearing the wooden chopsticks apart, I opened my carton and started to eat. I wrapped my arm around Edward's as I ate.

"If that's how you want to play it, fine." Edward smirked back. "I'm Edward Anthony Masen Cullen, but I prefer to be called Edward. I'm twenty-one and my birthday is on the twentieth of June. I enjoy playing the piano and sleeping in the same bed as you," he then nuzzled at my hair a little in an adorable manner. "I graduated from Stanford University last month with a degree in psychology and now I have a career as the leader of the New York mafia, which is actually a French one. I don't have much friends, but the ones I'm friendly with are my men and associates. I don't have siblings, but sometimes I wish I did. My favorite color varies, but now, I must say it's chocolate brown because it's the color of your eyes and I drive a Volvo S60."

I shook my head, laughing. "You're trying to flirt with me _and_ that whole thing isn't hard to remember. I'm a spy and spies are usually awesome at anything related to memories."

"Then I'll have to find a way to make it an excellent payback." He nuzzled my hair again and I pushed him to the side a little. "Feed me."

"What?" I looked at him with disbelief written all over my face. "Uh, no. I'm not giving you the dumplings."

"I'll give you some of the duck meat. Come on." He said, taking his food carton out of the plastic bag I was carrying. He opened it and slurped up some noodles with his chopsticks. He picked out a slice of meat in his carton and offered it silently. I opened my mouth willingly and savored the way it melted in my mouth.

"Fine. One dumpling and that's it." I told him. I picked out a small dumpling and he opened his mouth, allowing me to feed him. He chewed on it and we turned left when it was the end of the road, continuing our round around Chinatown.

"Have you told anyone else about us?" I asked.

"My parents, but they don't know what you work as." He responded. "You?"

"My aunt, sister and best friend, but my best friend probably told her boyfriend who is also my friend and I don't think my parents even care about what's happening." I said.

"That's a lot of people you've told about us." He commented, taking another mouthful of noodles into his mouth.

I kept silent for a while. "Do you... think that we'll regret everything after we... break up?" I asked quietly, wondering if I used the right words.

"Who said anything about breaking up?" He said nonchalantly. "Why are you even thinking of breaking up on our first date?"

"_This_ is a start of a relationship. _This_ is a start of conflict. _This_ is forbidden, and _you_ know that." I repeated Siobhan's words from the day before.

He stopped walking, and I did too. "Bella, don't torture yourself like this." He said in a pained tone.

"I'm not. I'm just stating the truth." I told him monotonously. "We met while we were doing our jobs— the cause of our own breakup will be because of it also."

"We can... run away," he told me. "We can get out of the country together. We can... finally live in peace without the interference of our responsibilities. We both have enough money to, and you know that."

"Edward, I can't run away from this." I placed my hand on his chest as I leaned into him. "This runs through my family. I may not even like how my choice of career affects my family, but I like my job. I love it."

"Hey, my career affects my family because it runs through our blood too, but I can just leave it to my cousin or something." He looked at me, his green eyes meeting my brown ones.

"That's just being selfish. I have a commitment towards my family and you have yours too, okay?" I told him. "I just cannot leave them alone like that."

He pressed his lips together. "I've always never understood_ Romeo & Juliet_— why they couldn't even avoid meeting each other for the first time even though they knew falling for each other would cause mishaps between their families. I think I know why." He mumbled against my hair. "It's because I can't stay away from you."

* * *

After finishing our dinner, we got into the car. By the time my watch had hit ten at night, I was halfway on my way to dreamland. I slept on the way back home in the car and I was so tired that when the car parked at the sidewalk of my penthouse building.

"Bella, wake up." Edward whispered, nudging me.

"No," I moaned sleepily.

He suddenly went silent. "Well, you have two options." He said after a minute. "It's either I carry you up to your bed or I bring down some of your clothes so that you can sleepover my house."

"I like your bed."

He chuckled quietly. "Okay. Where's your keys?"

"Left pocket." I replied softly, my eyelids feeling too heavy to open.

I felt him dig into my black jeans pocket and my keys dragged across the material against my skin. He got out of the car and locked it, but kept the engine on. After fifteen minutes, the car was unlocked and Edward slid into the driver's seat. I didn't exactly count, but the car stopped possibly after a few minutes. Edward carried me up into his arms and walked up to the elevator of his building. After a while, I felt my sneakers and socks come off my feet and I was laid onto a familiar bed with waves of water beneath me.

It was probably half an hour or so that I finally felt Edward get into bed beside me. He put his arms around me and I snuggled closer to him, feeling at home. He probably thought I was a heavy sleeper, because what he said had me caught off guard.

"Goodnight, baby." He whispered, then paused for a second. "I love you."

* * *

When I woke up at 0430 hours, I decided to limit my time in Edward's gym to thirty minutes. I had something to do.

"Hey girl," Rosalie yawned. "What's happening?"

"Hey, I just wanted to talk to you about something." I told her, pacing across the family room with my cellphone at my ear. "You just woke up?"

"Five minutes ago. I'm brewing coffee now." She said. "So what is it?"

"I'm at Edward's."

"Again?"

"But we didn't sleep together. Technically."

"What the hell does that mean?" She hissed, sounding much more awake than she was just a few seconds ago.

"We didn't have sex— we just slept next to each other. We had a date last night and I was too tired to go up. He brought me here and we slept on his bed." I explained. "Anyways, that isn't what I wanted to talk to you about— well, partly. When he got into bed, he said he loves me, thinking that I was fully asleep."

I heard something crash on the other end. "_Fuck_!" Rosalie exclaimed angrily.

"I mean, it's only been a week since we've met and he's saying he loves me. That's just... a little too fast, isn't it?" I asked.

"I don't think so." She replied. "Thank you for making me drop my favorite mug."

"You're welcome." I smiled a little a her sarcastic reply. "Why do you say it isn't? I mean, usually, a week is too fast, right? Shouldn't we be waiting until like, a month or so?"

"He didn't know you're a light sleeper, so I don't exactly think his confession is valid. I mean, he did tell you when he thought you were sleeping." She said. "Do you like him as much?"

"I... I'm not sure."

"What do you mean you're not sure? Dammit, he's so hot!"

"But he's the _leader_ of a crime family!" I snapped back. "Aunt Siobhan warned me already, did you know that?"

I could literally hear her roll her eyes. "I thought you didn't care about all these things. Aren't you supposed to be like, the rebel? Since when do you listen to your conscience anyways? You never do, and somehow it works for you because whenever you don't, our missions succeed. Take a chance and don't listen to your gut because it might just work." She advised. "It's your first time off the market— actually, you've never _actually_ been on it since you prefer one-night-stands— so have a little faith."

I was taken aback by Rosalie's advice. It was pretty trustworthy since she's my best friend ever since I was 8, but I had never asked her for relationship advice and her's was _really_ good.

"Well, thanks for the little tip." I said.

"We've never really talked about this but I'm seriously curious," she started. "How big is his dick?"

"Rose!" I scolded.

"_What_? You can't blame me for being curious. You've slept with him more than once and it's officially your own joystick—"

"What the fuck, Rosalie?" I said. "Ugh, you know what, never mind."

"If you're staying with him, it's obvious that his dick is _mighty_ fine. You owe me information, Swan."

"Stop talking about his dick." I said. "Don't you have a broken mug to clean from your floor?"

"Fine. You owe me big, Swan." She reminded. "Holy shit, that sounded dirty."

"Shut up and stay off the coffee for a few hours." I laughed. "Love you."

"Love you too babe." She made kissing noises through her speaker. "Hugs and kisses."

"Back to you." I smiled, then hung up.

As I grinned to myself, I heard his voice.

"Someone's curious about my dick?"

I pushed past him, not giving him the opportunity to bask under the glory of his own _gun_.

"Don't flatter yourself there, Cullen." I told him. "I can just tell my best friend yours is the size of a pinky."

"And that is a lie."

"But I can just tell her that." I smirked. "After all, what would she say if a mob boss suddenly runs up to her exaggerating that his dick is the size of beer bottle? Keep in mind that she's had the same training in martial arts as me."

"You enjoy blackmailing, don't you?" He wrapped his arms around my body from behind, his nose running up and down my neck.

"Hey, I'm not blackmailing anyone now but I do enjoy doing that." I told him. "Get off. I need to make breakfast."

He complied as I started walking to the stove of his kitchen. After cooking eggs and bacon, I pushed his plate to him, where he was sitting deliciously on his seat in boxers like the previous morning.

He kissed my cheek. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." I chuckled. I watched him eat his breakfast and thoughts ran through my head as I stared at his face, noticing that he has a faint scar on the skin between his jaw and ear. I felt the need to trace my finger along it, but managed to keep my hands to myself.

This man was going to be the death of me.

* * *

HEYYY. One early update and a super long chappie. Anyways, wish me luck for my common tests this week. *grimace* This ain't gonna be pretty. So this is also kind of a notice to all my stories that this week, updates are gonna be slow. :(

Scarlett


	9. Chapter Eight

Edward dropped me off at my penthouse after giving me a prolonged kiss.

He gave me another kiss, but this time on my cheek. "I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you too." I gave him a small smile. "Thank you so much for sending me."

"That's what boyfriends do." He gave me his crooked smile in return. "I'll be at your house for dinner."

I furrowed my eyebrows. "For what?"

"To cook." He said. "I'll be there by five thirty. I—"

His cellphone suddenly started to ring, and he got interrupted. He looked at me for a second before answering his phone.

"Cullen." He snapped. The person on the other side started to talk and Edward pinched the bridge of his nose, frustrated. "Bring him to the warehouse now. I'll meet you there and take care of it."

He then ended the call and the haze of anger in his eyes disappeared when he looked up at me again. He sighed. "Just another someone who isn't paying up his debts." He told me. "I'll need to get some ingredients from Walmart before going to your house."

"You tell me what you need and I'll get it for you. I'm free this whole week." I suggested.

"Alright. I'll just text you. Fair and square." He remarked.

My hand went up to the side of his face and pulled him into a kiss, but it became heated as an overwhelming need for him grew stronger by the second. Our tongues fought for the upper hand as my fingers tugged at his bronze hair. Edward, who was taken aback for a second at my move, held me at my waist. His lips covered mine fully and I pulled away a little, biting his lower lip gently. He groaned and the hem of my shirt gathered up my stomach. Unbuckling my seatbelt, I moved over to straddle his lap. I could feel his erection growing under me but suddenly Edward broke off our kiss. I whimpered at the loss of his lips on mine.

"Bella, no." He whispered.

"Edward—"

He placed his finger on my lips, my sentence faltering. "I have to go. Tonight, okay?"

I sighed in hesitation. "Tonight?"

"Yes, baby," he promised. "Tonight."

I hugged him and we stayed like that for a few seconds before I gave him a very chaste kiss. "I'll miss you." He told me.

"I'll miss you too." I replied. "See you tonight."

He gave me a last smile before I got out of the car and he drove off. I went up to my penthouse alone and I changed from my t-shirt and jeans to my black lace dress that ended an inch above my knees and the sleeves ended right below my elbows, planning to go to headquarters for a few hours before buying the foods. I wrapped a black headband on my head and I wore on matching black kitten heels. I shrugged on a red loose-fitting coat and was ready to go off.

For the first time in days, I got into my car. I drove to headquarters and when I made my entrance, the chatter around the hall quietened down into hushed whispers. I slowly came to a stop when I realized my heels were the only sounds I could hear clearly. I glanced at everyone and they immediately stopped their private conversations, their eyes on me. I frowned and continued making my way to my office.

"So you're dating him?" The constant noise of clogs on the marble floor annoyed me as Jessica Stanley, resident gossiper, tried to keep up with my fast pace. Jessica wasn't a field agent like me, but she stayed behind computers with a much different job than what Rosalie did which required her to stay in the HQ for her job. I couldn't blame her for being bored and start spreading rumors about fellow colleagues. She was one of the few who dared talk to me— the rest judged me based on my family's reputation, making me untouchable in their eyes when I was like them in a lot of ways.

"Dating who?" I asked monotonously.

"You know who," Jessica rolled her eyes. "Edward Cullen, leader of the mafia ruling New York. Are you?"

"Why would it matter to you?"

"Uh, because it matters to _everyone_ here." She said it in a tone that made me assume that it was obvious.

"It doesn't. It only matters to me because it's my personal life and you all work with me professionally." I arrived at the door of my office and unlocked the door with a fingerprint scan.

"So you're dating him?" She assumed.

"What makes you so sure that I'm dating him? I might as well be dating a normal member of the public or a fellow colleague here."

"You wouldn't date anyone here," she said. "You probably think that dating a general member of the public would be too risky too—"

"Then wouldn't dating the leader of a crime family be riskier than that altogether?" I turned to face her fully. "Your observations are invalid and if you ask anymore about my private life, you will get kicked out of SIGO, and you know how we dispose of our ex-members who have the potential to let out vital information, don't you?"

She froze up. "Uh... yes, ma'am."

_Huh. So I'm ma'am now. How appropriate_, I muttered in my mind. "Do you get my message or so you need me to remind you again?"

She shook her head and turned away, walking. I smirked and opened my door.

"You owe me info, Swan."

I groaned. "Oh my fucking god, Rose, how did you get in here?"

She lifted up a small flimsy piece of rubber and shook it between her fingertips.

An imprint of my fingerprint.

I rolled my eyes. "Why am I not surprised?"

She ignored my words and sat down on the seat in front of my desk. "What happened last night?"

I dropped my dark red Salvatore Ferragamo bag on my table. "We went to Chinatown for the night. We talked and stuff, but nothing much happened."

She narrowed her eyes into slits as if she didn't believe me. "You're kidding."

"I kid you not, Hale. Anyways, we didn't sleep with each other or anything. We slept next to each other." I told her, emphasizing.

"You said something about him saying he loves you this morning," she paused. "Did you confront him—"

"No." I cut her off. "It doesn't really matter now anyways. We're in a relationship and I guess that's bound to happen."

We were in an uncomfortable silence for at least a minute until she asked: "But do you love him?"

"I don't know," I admitted.

"Well, he sure knows he loves you." She smiled softy. "Put away both of your careers and I would have never seen a better match than you guys. Other than me and Emmett, of course."

"Really?" I asked, a little shocked by her words.

"Of course." She chuckled. "You guys are obviously big on cuddling. Your lips are still swollen from the last time he kissed you."

I reached up to feel my lips and it felt much plumper than usual. Edward & I kissed probably less than two hours ago, but it was still evident on my face.

"We're having dinner tonight again," I told her. "At my house."

Her eyebrows shot up. "You're cooking or ordering in?"

"He's the one doing the cooking."

She gasped. "Damn, Bella. What I wouldn't do to get Emmett to do that just once."

I rolled my eyes again, but laughed. "You've got to find a way to get him to do that— just supervise him in the kitchen, though."

She nodded, grinning ear-to-ear out of humor. She stood up. "Have a great dinner, Bella."

"Yeah, sure." I said. "I'll talk to you soon."

She slipped out of the office silently and I busied myself with some paperwork before leaving to buy the foods that Edward requested through text. As I passed by my aunt's office, I paused and decided to stop by her office. Knocking on the door, I waited for her call.

"Come in." I heard her say out loud. I twisted the doorknob and entered.

Siobhan had her hair swept up in a bun and she was just finishing up with a conference call when I opened the door. She looked up at me and smiled. "Bella."

"Aunt Siobhan," I greeted. "Uhm, I just wanted to check up on you."

"I'm fine, darling. How are _you_?"

"Well...," I drifted away a little while and then cleared my throat. "I guess I'm doing a little better than fine."

She chuckled. "Does a certain twenty-one-year-old mafia boss have to do with it?"

"Kind of." I scratched the side of my head awkwardly. "We're having dinner tonight, actually."

"Oh?" She raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Okay. It seems that everything really is doing quite well with you." Her eyes wandered a little to the small surveillance televisions at the corner of her desk and frowned. "Bella, I don't think you'd want to leave through the front door right now."

"What?" I took a step closer. "Why?"

"Charlie & Renèe are here." She replied. "Stay in my office, would you? We still have a lot to talk about."

She then left the office and I was a little curious to what was happening outside, so I moved over to Siobhan's desk. It showed the hallways and my parents were walking together, but they weren't talking. Their faces were as straight and expressionless as they could be and I then saw another person coming into the picture. Siobhan smiled and greeted them. My mother's face was serious even when she greeted her back. A few word were exchanged between them as my father watched them both. I couldn't exactly see Siobhan's face, so I only could see my parents and I was going to lip-read my mother.

_What do you mean she's not here? _I read Renèe's lips. A few words from Siobhan suddenly had her on edge._ No, I know she's here! Don't hide her from me. I went to her house and no one responded. I called her so many times and she never answered. Is she in her office?_

The reply from my aunt had my mother glaring daggers at her. _If she's not in her office, where is she? Let's talk in your office now, shall we?_

My aunt stopped my mother from walking past her.

_Is she in your office? Is my daughter in your office?_ Renée asked. A few beats of silence and her eyes were widened. _Let me see her now!_

All three of them walked out of the surveillance camera's sight and I started to panic. I knew that the office had a secret doorway that was an entrance and exit other than the main door that was obvious. I reached up on my toes, feeling for any uneven corners of the bookshelves behind her desk. The secret doorway wasn't hiding there and I lifted up the carpet on the floor a little. Still no doorway.

The door was yanked open and my head snapped up. I let go of the carpet and it fell back down to the floor.

"Bella, _you_ are in serious trouble, young lady!" Renée shouted.

"What?" I blurted out.

"Are you dating Edward Cullen?"

My eyes widened and I looked to Siobhan's way. She just nodded. "I... I, uh, I am." I replied shakily.

"You do know all too well about what he does, don't you?" She asked sharply.

At the mention of what Edward did for a living had me building a wall up instantly. "Well, why do you care anyway?" I replied back defensively. "How do you know that I'm dating him, unless you broke Alice's promise! Alice made you guys promise to not check up on who I left with at Crystal and you guys broke it!"

My father stepped forward. "Bella, you don't have the right to talk to us like this. Be rational."

I laughed humorlessly. "Rational? Why don't you tell Mom to be rational first then I will!"

"This is not how I raised you to be!" Renée exclaimed angrily.

"I'm not how you raised me to be because you _weren't there _for the last few _years_!" I told her off in the same tone. "Aunt Siobhan took over both of your places when you weren't there. She cares more about me. If I'm with Edward, what does it even mean to you?" I lowered my voice.

"You're dating a criminal! You know that it's against the rules!" She snapped. "This will not only tarnish our family values, but our reputation as well!"

I scoffed. "This was all about reputation all along?" My cellphone vibrated and I took it out. A text message from Edward came saying the he looked forward to tonight's dinner. I looked up at my parents. "I'm heading off, but if you or anyone you hire follows me discreetly, I will cut off all communications with you and you all will not be able to locate me anywhere in the world."

I walked past them swiftly and replied to Edward's message, saying that I was looking forward to seeing him too.

* * *

"Hey, baby." Edward picked me up into his arms and peppered my face with kisses. I giggled at that and he put me down. I moved aside so that he could go in.

"What are you planning to make?" I asked.

"Haven't you gotten a clue?" He laughed, walking straight to the kitchen. "Soy sauce, noodles, sesame seeds..."

I shook my head. "I'm not that big on culinary stuff."

"Cold soba," he finally told me. "Originated from Japan and is now eaten all over the world. It may sound disgusting since it's eaten cold, but it tastes delicious."

"Delicious but life-threatening?"

He narrowed his eyes into slits playfully. "Very funny."

"Need any help?" I asked.

"Nope. I can do it by myself. This dinner is supposed to be for my girl." He wagged his eyebrows jokingly and it only made him seem more like a dork.

"I'll just be here to supervise you. If you burn down my house—"

"You will move in with me and sleep on my waterbed." He interrupted. I gave him my middle finger and he shook his head as he laughed. When he was done making dinner, he served it on the dining table. I slurped up my cold soba as I looked at him, trying my hardest not to laugh.

"This is one of the worst dining etiquettes, but it's fun." I commented.

"We're just eating it the traditional way," he replied. "Where did you go just now?"

"I went to my headquarters. Nothing much happened." I quickly answered

There wasn't a response from him for three seconds and I knew I couldn't fool him. "Bella, what happened?"

I sighed. "My parents found out about us and my mom was screaming at me. I screamed back at her saying that she wasn't much of a parent and... yeah. Nothing else happened."

"Does that mean that I won't be meeting your parents in any way pleasant soon?" He asked.

"No."

He nodded solemnly and offered to pick up my plate. I accepted his offer and as I sat there, I thought about last time. I was so close to my mother that we were basically each other's best friends. Now that we drifted off, we seemed a little... foreign to each other. We both changed a lot and we didn't know what was happening in each other's lives. We were literally mother and daughter to strangers on the street. I missed her.

"Bella, love," Edward kissed my cheek softly from behind, "do you want to go somewhere to forget everything?"

"Sure." I replied instantly. "Where?"

"Bring your favorite gun." He said. "We're going to practice some shooting."

* * *

HEYY. Late update. Sigh. I'm still recovering from those stupid tests and so I feel like I'm going to sleep soon. Anyways, I saw that I have over a hundred people who have put this story on their favorites and over two hundred of you guys have put it in your alerts! Thank you guys. You all are so cute.

Scarlett


	10. Chapter Nine

"Bella, just looking at your gun is starting to intimidate me." Edward said, staring at the gun in my hand.

We were at a land of warehouses he owned somewhere at the shipping areas of New York. This was apparently where every illegal business he did was carried out here, but when we entered, it was empty. Our footsteps were echoed throughout the high ceilings and metal walls. There was only a wall full of weapons— from knives and daggers to full-out rifles and even flamethrowers. It was pretty impressive.

I frowned down at my CZ 75 SP-01 in my hand and looked at him, confused. "Why?"

"It's one of the best handguns in the world."

I stared at him in disbelief before cracking up. "What do you look at?_ Top Ten Nine-millimeter Handguns in the World_?" I chortled. "Only amateurs look at those kind of lists!"

"Darling, I don't think you'd want to call me an amateur," he said in a low voice that made me tingle down there. Almost immediately, all humor was gone as I wrapped my arms around his shoulders, pulling him close.

"I'm not calling you that, but I'd be happy to receive my punishment," I purred, tracing his shoulder with my gun. I nibbled on his collarbone and he growled.

"Later." He managed to say. "We've got something else to do now."

"Are you going to beat me at my own game, Cullen?" I pulled away from him, pulling back the slide of my gun barrel. Facing forward where the paper target was just 14 feet away, I pulled the trigger with one finger while holding the gun. Small mounts of smoke floated up and when it finally cleared up, I checked my paper target.

"Bullseye." I smirked. "Think you can beat that?"

"Absolutely," he muttered as he lifted his chosen gun— a typical .22 calibre —and shot his paper target. He hummed in satisfaction when he saw the bullseye he created. I stared at him and he shrugged. "The first time I held a gun was when I was thirteen. I learned how to shoot when I was fifteen."

"Well I first held a gun when I was five and learned how to shoot when I was nine," I replied, competitiveness oozing through my tone. I raised my gun and shot my paper target multiple of times. Soon, there was one big hole in the middle of the target.

Edward raised his eyebrows, impressed. "Nicely done."

For the first time ever since we arrived at the warehouse, I smiled. "Thanks," I muttered, looking down at the floor. "So does that mean I win?"

"It wouldn't be fair to call you the winner if I haven't had my turn yet." He smirked. I groaned, rolling my eyes. He faced his paper target and breathed out calmly before pulling his trigger.

The smoke cleared and I saw that most of the bullets when through the bullseye.

Except two.

I grinned victoriously and squealed while Edward got down on his knees and groaned with his head in his hands. I locked the safety feature on my gun and slid it into my pocket. When I looked back up, Edward stood up already, sighing.

"You win." He admitted.

I smiled wider. "Yes I did."

He chuckled, rolling his eyes as he held his hand out. "Come on, I've got something to show you."

I took his hand and we walked to the corner of the empty warehouse, where there was a staircase. We walked up until there was a door that was not even touching the floor. I frowned. Edward opened the door to reveal a rooftop. He got onto the roof first before giving his hand to me so that I could get on too. He closed the door behind me and we walked a little farther from it, then sat down. I hugged my legs as I shivered from the chilly air. We stared out into the Manhattan skyline with cruise ships departing and arriving from the terminals, skyscrapers behind them.

"This is beautiful," I whispered.

"Yeah, it is." he smiled, then pursed his lips. "There's a reason why I brought you here." He started, taking a deep breath before looking back at the buildings. "I grew up here in Manhattan— Upper East Side, to be exact, but I was adopted when I was one. My real parents were killed one night and I just happened to be put to Carlisle & Esme's home. They're my adoptive parents, you see, but I've always thought of them as my real ones. They couldn't conceive, so they chose to adopt. Carlisle's a doctor while Esme's a stay-at-home mom. My new grandfather who was Carlisle's father wanted him to take over the mafia and our legal companies, but Carlisle wanted to pursue a career in medicine, so that meant that he had to wait longer for me to grow up and take over. He took me out to various businesses our family owned at fifteen like brothels and warehouses full of weapons. I was aware about all these when I was about twelve.

"He treated me like his own son too and gave me the same love and affection Carlisle & Esme did. I felt compelled to continue these businesses, whether legal or illegal, since it all started with the blood and tears of his ancestors that I started to call mine too. Carlisle didn't like the idea of all these mafia activities, but he tolerated it because it was in the family. He also didn't like the fact that I wanted to take over all the businesses, but he couldn't let what his ancestors start just die out like that. I soon started to take over certain things under my grandfather's watch to ease the stress on him a little since he was old.

"A day after I met you," he reached down to hold my hand, "I watched my grandfather die in front of my eyes. He said he could feel himself getting drastically weaker by the seconds passing him by. He just lied down on his bed, holding on to both Carlisle's and my hands. He whispered out his last words and then died. We held the funeral the day after and I officially took over as the head of the Cullen clan. You came into my life again after that night at the casino and I swear my world got much brighter. I wanted to know all about you." He told me, looking at my face. My breath caught as I looked at the intensity of his deep green eyes.

"Every single time I managed to spend my time with you, I studied you and your habits. You have a small freckle on the right side of your back and a small scar on your wrist that looks like it came from a scorching hot bullet shell," he pulled up the sleeve of my coat a little and he traced the uneven skin at the side of my wrist softly, my skin tingling. "You bite your lip when you're nervous, but most of the time you never show it probably because showing emotions is deadly in your line of work. You're eccentric when it comes to how you think and you're a vixen in the sheets." I smiled a little at that comment.

He continued what he was saying. "This may sound like it came out from a cheesy romantic comedy, but I feel like spending my whole lifetime with you and I am so sure that I am in love with you."

I stared at him blankly. "You took ten minutes to tell me your whole life story before telling me you love me?" I asked. I then laughed. "I was kidding, Edward. That was beautiful, but I think it's a little too soon for me to know whether I'm in love with you or something."

"Which is why I got this," Edward said, dipping his hand into his pocket and taking a blue velvet ring box. He then opened it to me. It was a ring made up of two silver bands wrapping around each other to make an infinity sign. A princess-cut diamond nestled comfortably on the ring.

I looked up at him. "Is that supposed to be an engagement ring?"

He chuckled, shaking his head. "It's not an engagement ring, it's a promise ring. It means that my love for you will always be infinite, if you haven't figured it out yet. You'll have to get a ring for me once you feel the same as I do."

"How much did this cost? Do I have to spend the same amount of money on a promise ring to you?" I joked. "Can't I just grab a cheap ring from a vending machine?"

"You can do that if you want. I really don't mind." He smiled. He plucked out the ring from the blue cushion and I offered him my left hand. He slid it into my ring finger and surprisingly, it fitted perfectly.

"Hmm," I narrowed my eyes at him. "It's a little suspicious that it's the right size, isn't it?"

"I borrowed a ring of yours last night when you were too sleepy to go up." He said. "I had this picked out today at Tiffany's."

"Are you trying to make people think I'm engaged by putting this into my ring finger?"

"I'm only claiming what's mine," he grabbed me into his arms and I yelped in surprise. He nuzzled his nose at my neck and I squirmed in his lap, giggling.

"Edward, oh god, stop." I giggled uncontrollably. "We're going to roll off this roof if you don't."

"The roof isn't steep, so no, we are not going to roll off." He said.

"Edward, please!" I begged as he started to tickle my sides. I felt a drop of water fall on my face then felt another in my hair. "Shit, Edward, stop! It's going to rain!"

He let me go and I stood up. He did the same and we both ran to the door. From the inside of the warehouse, we could hear the heavy pitter-patter of the rain and thunder outside of the place echoing through the empty spaces in here. Edward held my hand as we arrived at his car. We entered it and he started the engine. The radio turned on too and the radio DJ spoke of some rainstorms expected to last through the whole night.

"Shit," Edward cursed. "We won't be able to make it back with the rain like this."

"What?" I said in disbelief. "But it's only a half hour drive back!"

"The rain isn't anything I've seen. We'll have to stay over somewhere tonight."

"How about that house of yours that is really under your name? You said it's here in Manhattan." I suggested.

He shook his head. "It's too far from here. I know where we can go."

"Where?"

"My parents'."

* * *

Late update. Again. But I tried! I seriously did! I love the promise ring concept for this, and we're gonna meet Carlisle & Esme! Who's excited? Raise your hands up if you are! I know I am.

Scarlett


	11. Chapter Ten

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" I asked. "I mean, I think that meeting your parents is probably too early, don't you think?"

Edward chuckled. "You have nothing to worry about. Seriously, I think my mom would be happy since I'm bringing a girl home."

"Uh, yeah. At eleven at night." I deadpanned.

He rolled his eyes, sighing. "We have a valid reason."

He started to slow down as he turned left and I could immediately feel the ground change from a flat tar road to a rocky gravel pathway. There were big iron gates greeting us and opening. As Edward drove in, I gazed out of my side window. There were different kinds of flowers on a huge patch of grass, scattered all over the place. There were a few statues of some Greek gods at the corners of the garden. The car came to a halt and Edward killed the engine. We ran out of the car as fast as we could since it was still raining heavily. We ran up to the porch and Edward rang the doorbell. As we waited, I looked out at the sides of the porch, which both had statues of gnarly lions that were facing each other, looking ready to pounce. I looked down at Edward's hand where he had his family crest ring and there were the same lions on it. Seemed pretty significant to me.

The door opened, pulling me out of my daze and I turned to see who was at the door. A middle-aged lady with caramel-colored hair hanging halfway down her back greeted us with a warm dimpled smile. Her brown eyes studied us silently. She was slightly shorter than me, but she had a sort of elegance that even I couldn't have beaten.

"Mom," Edward grinned. He hugged her and she hugged him back welcomingly.

"Edward, darling," she spoke. "I haven't seen you in weeks. Come on, let's get you kids inside."

Edward let her go and his fingers laced with mine, tugging gently as he pulled me into the house. The receiving hall was beautiful yet simple, with a chandelier hanging low from the ceiling. There was a small table with a vase of fresh flowers against the wall.

"Edward... who's this?" Esme, Edward's adoptive mother, asked. She looked me up and down, but it wasn't intimidating.

"Mom, this is my girlfriend, Bella." Edward introduced.

Her face brightened up. "Is she the one you talked about over the phone?" She asked for some clarification. When Edward nodded in reply, she unexpectedly pulled me into a kind of motherly hug I hadn't had ever since I was small. I was stiff, shocked from her unexpected gesture.

"Oh, it's so nice to finally meet you." She said when she pulled away. "Edward's right— you're gorgeous." She commented.

I looked to Edward for some explanation. He gave me a I'll tell you later look and I smiled at Esme. "Thank you."

"There's a rainstorm outside, so we couldn't really go home since the rain's really heavy." Edward told his mother, removing my coat off me and hanging it at the coat hanger beside the main door.

"I'm glad you've decided to come over, then. Have you guys had dinner?" She asked.

"Yes, over at my house just now." I replied. "Your home is lovely."

She nodded. "Thank you," she smiled. "Come now, Carlisle's by the fireplace."

She led us through the house and we were in a room with two armchairs facing the fireplace, books and tables stacked beside them. One of them was occupied. The man occupying the seat turned his head and stood up when he saw who it was. He had short blond hair neatly combed to the back and blue eyes. He looked around the same age as Esme and he was very handsome. This family was filled with people with looks that could rival a supermodel's.

"Son," the blonde man whom I assumed was Carlisle had his arms spread out as if inviting Edward for a hug. Edward hugged him and he patted his back a couple of times before letting go.

"Dad, it's great to see you." Edward said.

Carlisle nodded in acknowledgment and his attention was towards me. "I assume you are his girlfriend?"

"Uhm... yes." I muttered.

"Esme couldn't stop smiling when she heard Edward finally has a girlfriend." He laughed. "Although, you look younger than him. How old are you?"

There was a sudden silence that made me feel uncomfortable, but I didn't show it. "Sixteen, sir."

His eyebrows shot up. "Aren't you still schooling?"

"I, uh, graduated from Yale last year." I said. "I'm now working at my family's company."

"Really? What is it?"

"Swan Intelligence-Gathering Organization," I muttered, but he could still hear me. I heard Esme give out a silent gasp and Carlisle gave a look to Edward.

"So you knew what she was and you still decided to date her?" Carlisle asked, although he didn't look pissed. From what his face told me, he thought this was... interesting. Much like Aunt Siobhan.

"Yes." Edward replied, his arm pulling me close to him by my waist.

"Why?"

"Because I love her."

Esme breathed loudly. "You love her?"

"Yes, Mom." He sighed. "Now can we just go to my room? We're really tired from today."

Carlisle and Esme met eyes before they nodded. "Goodnight, darling." Esme kissed Edward's cheek and mine too before we left the fireplace.

As we walked up the stairs, Edward kissed my hair. "We survived," he remarked.

I chuckled softly. "Your parents don't really seem to mind, but I can't help but think that they're going to give a few talks to us individually."

"Obviously." He added. We walked down a hall and stopped in front of a door. Edward turned the doorknob and the room wasn't white like what I expected, since I had seen how he loved the color black in his house.

Gray walls gave the bedroom a soft feel and much like his house, it was decorated with a lot of polished wooden furniture. Bookshelves of CDs and classic literature filled it up and there was a study table that was probably used a lot during his teenage years. The bed was a queen-sized one, but not as big as the bed in his house. I had a feeling it wasn't a waterbed either. That thought made me laugh.

"What?" Edward looked at me.

"Well," I walked over to the bed and pressed my hand down on it. "Not a waterbed?"

He rolled his eyes. "When I lived under my parents' roof, my mother made the decisions on what kind of mattress it would be."

"Come on, I'm tired," I yawned.

"Take your clothes off."

"What?"

"I didn't mean it in that kind of way. Unless you don't want to wrinkle your designer clothes, I suggest that you undress."

I rolled my eyes and I unzipped the back of my dress. I could feel Edward's gaze burning through me and goosebumps raised on my neck and arms. Stepping out of my dress, I was left in my black lace undergarments.

"Pervert," I muttered and Edward chuckled under his breath.

I could feel his arms wrap around me from behind. "You look so good." He nibbled on my earlobe.

"I know." I smirked.

His thumb kept moving over the skin of my stomach, setting me on fire. "I want you so badly," he whispered, his hands raising up so dangerously close to my bra.

"Edward, we're at your parents' house." I reminded him.

"Dammit, Bella." He growled. "We haven't had sex for days."

"_Days_." I emphasized. "You are too needy." I turned to face him and poked the tip of his nose with my pointer finger.

"You can't stop me," he said.

"We've been having unprotected sex, you know." I pointed out. He froze. I laughed at his reaction and got on the bed, covering myself with the covers as I prepared to sleep. I watched as he stared at me. "Okay, fine. It wasn't unprotected. I'm on the pill." I told him. I threw a pillow at his face. "Get in bed now. I want to sleep."

He stripped down to his boxers, leaving me to salivate over his sculpted abs. He got in bed with me and I wrapped my arms around his body, taking the chance to feel his abs too.

"Is it too cold?" Edward asked.

I shook my head. "I'm perfectly fine."

"Okay then." He said. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight." I mumbled, lying my head on his chest.

His fingers combed through my hair. "I love you."

"Hmm." I just replied.

"Just remember that we're having breakfast with my parents, obviously."

"Don't ruin my sleepy mood."

I could hear the upturn of his lips. "Okay. Go to sleep."

My breaths were stable and easy as I drifted in and out of sleep, but finally was able to sleep fully.

* * *

Okay, so I managed to update hours earlier (self five!) And if you think that their meet with Carlisle & Esme was a little too calm, wait until the next chapter when Bella & Edward get pulled aside for individual lectures by them. I'm so looking forward to it.

xx Scarlett


	12. Chapter Eleven

There was a knock on the door and I woke up from the sound. My arms were wrapped around Edward's abdomen and my face was hiding in the crook of his neck. I looked over at the door and saw it wide open.

"Oh shit," I exclaimed, sitting up as I pulled the covers to cover my body. I glanced at the alarm clock and I realized I overslept by four hours. It was eight in the morning. I nudged Edward to wake up.

"What is it?" He groaned.

"It's your parents, you dimwit!" I hissed. "They left the door open!"

"What?" That caught his attention. "Fuck."

"You know what, I'll go take a shower. Just... sleep a little while." I told him, getting out of the bed and heading off into the bathroom. After a shower, I found that my clothes were beside the sink, folded and they smelt fresh. Esme must have washed them. I wore them on gratefully and brushed my teeth with Edward's toothbrush. I went down first and found his parents in the kitchen. Esme was at the stove cooking breakfast while Carlisle was seating down around the kitchen island with newspapers covering his face as he read. Esme saw me first and gave me a welcoming smile.

"Bella, good morning." She said.

"Morning," I replied, and I could see Carlisle's newspapers lower a little.

"Would you care for some bacon and eggs?"

I nodded, taking a seat around the island. "Thank you very much."

She served me a plate of bacon strips and an omelette and took a seat beside me. "I have a random question in mind— what languages do you speak?" She questioned.

"I speak a lot of languages, but the ones I'm more fluent at are Spanish, French, Italian & Russian."

"French & Russian?" She sounded frankly surprised.

"_Vy govorite po-russki_?" Carlisle suddenly spoke up in Russian, but continued reading the paper.

"_Da_," I replied back in the same language. "_Éto moj lûbimyj âzyk_."

"Don't mind him, he's just testing you." Esme said. "Russian is just one of the languages we use in this household. Carlisle comes from a Russian family while my whole family is French. This marriage actually was arranged to join our... families, but in the end we found love."

"That's beautiful," I commented. "It's nice that you both found love."

"Thank you." She smiled. "So tell me, how did you and Edward meet?" She asked curiously, passing a fork and a knife to me.

"We, uhm, we met on a bad note actually."

"Oh?" She raised her eyebrows. "What happened?"

"I was on a mission and he was my target." I simply explained.

"Oh." Esme said again, but this time she said it with much less enthusiasm.

"Can I please ask who opened the door just now?" I asked.

Esme shot a look at Carlisle who was still reading his paper, covering his face.

"I must say, you & Edward must have had a good night's sleep." He remarked.

"Carlisle," Esme warned.

He folded his newspaper and set it aside, picking up his cup of coffee in the process. "Bella, it has genuinely been nice to meet you but after you leave this house, I never want to see you bother us again." He looked me in the eye, his blue eyes that were warm last night turned into an icy blue.

"Carlisle—"

"Esme, don't push me." He told her.

"You've never been in charge of the family businesses and now you want to pretend that you are?" Esme stood up. "Edward's in charge now, so I think it's too late for that."

"I promise, you won't see me ever again." I breathed, pushing my plate away. "Thank you for the hospitality you both have shown. I'm sorry this ended on a bad note." I took my bag beside me and walked to the door. Esme walked me to it, but I didn't miss the glare she gave her husband.

"Bella, I'm sincerely sorry for what happened." She pursed her lips. "He isn't always like this."

"No, I should have known that I wasn't welcomed in here." I shook my head. "This is all my fault."

"Do you want to wait at the porch for Edward?" She asked softly. "I can tell him that you're outside."

"That's okay. I'll just leave first." I said. "Thank you."

"You can just walk out the gate, sweetheart. I'm sorry for what happened again."

"I'm sorry too." I said. "It was nice meeting you."

She gave me one last smile and closed the door unwillingly. I took a deep breath and turned away, walking down the porch and on the gravel. The gates opened automatically by themselves and I didn't look back.

* * *

21 missed calls from Edward and counting.

I was in my office, preparing for another mission that Siobhan gave me. This time, Rosalie & I were going overseas to recover a stolen artpiece that was owned by the Monégasque royal family. Eventually, I turned off my cellphone since it was turning unbearable to see Edward's name flashing across the screen with our faces. The picture was taken on our first date, when he insisted on getting someone to take a photo of us. Eventually, he found a friendly stranger who agreed on taking the picture for us. My head started to hurt as I thought back to that night.

My office landline rang suddenly and I picked up the call. "Swan," I said.

"Bella, have you gotten your things packed?" Rosalie asked. "How about the equipment? We'll be in Monaco for like, a week."

"I got the guys at the ammunition block to pack for us whatever they think we'll need." I said. "Just give me an hour to pack and we'll be down at the airport."

"I'll see you there, huns." She said. After she hung up, I locked my office up and took the cab to my apartment, since I came straight to HQ from Edward's parents' house. Once I reached, I took a black suitcase and threw in whatever I needed. I needed this mission and it came just in the right time. I needed to get away from whatever personal problems I had.

My cellphone rang and I picked it up.

"Swan."

"I'm downstairs already. I've picked up the equipment and our flight's in an hour. Hurry!"

"I'm coming down." I told her, grabbing my bags and locking the main door behind me. "I'll be there in two minutes, tops."

"Timer on." She said, before hanging up.

I got out of the building and a black Mercedes was waiting for me. The passenger window rolled down and Rosalie gave me a disapproving look as a joke. I rolled my eyes at her and fit in the bags at the trunk. I slid into the passenger seat and I heard something click.

"One minute, forty-two seconds." She sighed.

"Told you I'd be here." I chuckled.

"Have you told everyone we'll be gone for a week?" She said. "Edward?"

"No, but I'll tell them later." I waved her off.

She didn't notice the change in my tone when I replied her. Everything that happened this morning was still playing in my head. "Okay. Say bye-bye to America." She smiled.

* * *

So what do you think? I honestly have no idea what to say. Really.

xx Scarlett


	13. Chapter Twelve

Edward's Point of View

"Hey Mom," I greeted once I arrived in the kitchen for breakfast. I gave her a half-hug and a kiss on her cheek, but there was a straight line set across her lips.

I glanced around the kitchen to find get some clue about what happened here that made her like that. My father sat in his seat, sipping his second cup of coffee nonchalantly.

"Where's Bella?" I asked.

"Why don't you ask your father?" Esme surprisingly spat as she was spreading jam on her toast. "He's responsible for everything that happens in this house."

I didn't understand at first. As I observed his expression, I realized he had obviously done something. His face was passive, with a cold gleam to his eyes.

"Dad," I started, "where's Bella?"

He didn't respond for a few seconds, but I didn't need to repeat myself. He looked up at me and sighed exasperatedly, as if he'd said it too many times. "I got rid of her."

I clenched my jaw. "What do you mean you 'got rid of her'?"

"Edward, she isn't good for you because she puts you and the family at risk—"

"At risk?" I repeated. "_At risk_?! Dad, we've been at risk all our lives and this doesn't even make a difference!"

"She's a secret agent of an international organization, Edward. Think rationally." He said in a firm tone. "She might be with you because of reasons that are anything but personal. She might be in a relationship with you because you were her target and there is some unfinished business that she needs to settle— maybe she needs some information that will make her the last person this circle will ever see."

"She wouldn't do that. She'd _never_ do that, and to hear that you think she would just by judging her by her profession disgusts me." I said in a low tone.

"I don't know what you see in her, but you are never to see her again. You might be the leader of the mafia, but I am your father— don't ever forget that." He gave me a hard stare that I used to feel small under.

"Exactly, _you_ don't know what _I_ see in her. You've only known her for less than a day and you're already dismissing her." I glared back. "I'm leaving."

He picked up the newspapers in front of him, flipping to the sports section. "She's already out of the gates, Edward."

"I don't fucking care." I snapped and at a brisk pace, I walked to the door. As soon as I held the doorknob, my mother's voice stopped me.

"Edward," she took a deep breath, "she's different, isn't she?"

I gripped the doorknob tightly as I shut my eyes tight for a second. "She is."

"Go get her." I could hear the approving tone in her voice.

I opened the door and got into my car, starting up the engine and driving out of the property. I switched off whatever music that was playing on the radio as I gathered my thoughts. I called her phone so many times and when I finally didn't hear the tone anymore, I knew that she turned her phone off. I listened to her voicemail greeting as I waited to leave a message.

"_You've reached the Swans' Home for the sexual deviants. How may I help you_?" She started in a professional, breathy voice, then bursted out in laughter. "_Okay, fine. It's Bella. Leave a message... whoever you are._" She then muttered under her breath, "_little fuckers._"

_Beep_.

"Bella, it's me... Call me back." I said and I felt like my throat was closing up. I then pressed the "end call" button and chucked my cellphone at the empty passenger seat where Bella was just sitting at with me yesterday.

I imagined what her face was like when Carlisle told her to get out of the house. I winced at how vulnerable she looked like in my head and how she wouldn't object. She had a kind of vulnerability that made me fall to my knees the moment I knew more about her under that tough exterior. She was as fragile as a porcelain doll with so many layers to peel in order to know her true self.

The way she was devoted to everything she had was admirable and everything about her was so beautiful. She was the light in this world, and I wasn't going to lose her. I knew that she needed me as much as I needed her. I wasn't going to lose her just because of what my father thought of her. Our families didn't seem to approve of us— but none of us really cared. Her parents hated me and now Carlisle disliked her.

I pulled up in front of her headquarters, since I knew that she wouldn't be going home first. Whenever something bad happened, she'd go here first. It was a risk just by stepping out of my car since this wasn't a place I could fool around in. I was obviously known here for the mafia, and this place was filled with people who had perfect aiming in shooting and trained in martial arts. I could easily be taken down if I made the wrong move.

The building was pale white and gray— it was probably as intimidating as the people who worked in there. As I entered the place, all that I could hear was my footsteps echoing through the place. Everyone around me here walked without a sound, but I was causing whispers among everyone. I approached the lady at the counter with bouncy red curls pulled behind her ear while she chewed on gum. She didn't see who I was at first since she was busy on the computer, but she could see me.

"Swan Intelligence-Gathering Organization, how may I help you?" She said in a professional tone as her fingers kept busy with the keyboard. Her eyes were trained to the screen.

"I'm looking for Bella Swan."

Her fingers were mid-air, frozen. She blinked twice before she looked up to see me. Her eyes widened slightly and the pink bubble she was blowing popped.

"She... just left the office," she stuttered.

"Do you know where she's going?" I enquired further.

"That's classified information, sir—"

"And I thought I'd never meet you." A girl's voice said out loud, interrupting the redhead's sentence. "My sister never tells me about her love life, but her best friend Rosalie does."

I saw the owner of the voice, whom I presumed was Alice. Bella told me about her before, and I saw her at the restaurant the night we met for the third time.

She stopped right in front of me and looked me up and down. "You do realize that you are at risk of getting arrested for the number of crimes your... mob is responsible for when you're on our ground, don't you?" She asked incredulously. "What are you here for?"

"I'm looking for Bella," I told her. "Where is she?"

"She just left the office." She shrugged nonchalantly. "Since you're her boyfriend, I guess you're entitled to knowing where she's going to."

"What do you mean?"

"Bella just accepted a mission. She's on the way to Monaco for it now and she'll be there for a week." Alice told me. My breath caught and I shut my eyes, running my hand in my hair. She scrutinized me. "What have you done?"

"It's not _me_, it's...," I struggled to say the right words, but I kept grimacing with every wrong word I said.

"Let me guess, you screwed up big, huh? Brought her home to the parents?"

"How did you know that?"

She shrugged again. "My parents aren't that eager about you as well. You should wait until she comes back and do something to make up for what happened."

* * *

Bella's Point of View

"Remind me why I haven't moved to Monaco yet," Rosalie sighed in content as she sat back in her car seat, smiling away. Her blue eyes were hidden behind her Chanel oversized sunglasses with her arm laid on the top of her head. It was noon in Monaco, and it was pretty humid here.

"Because we have careers in New York and there isn't a headquarters here yet in Monte Carlo?" I suggested. "This is also too pretty of a place to see gunshots and explosions."

When I pointed those out, her smile turned into a frown and she pulled down her shades. "I wish we weren't here for a mission. You know what, we should go house-hunting too. I want a house here. I'm pretty sure I can afford it."

"And put it under what? Your father's name?" I laughed, glancing at the GPS that was leading us to the hotel we were going to stay at. "I mean, it's already good enough that your parents allowed you to become a spy."

"Yeah, I guess it is. They thought it'd be some fantasy I'd grow out of, but it really isn't. I love my job." She replied. "So how come you've never even mentioned Edward throughout the whole trip here?"

"There's really nothing much to say." I quickly answered.

"Bella, there's always something to say when it comes to relationships. What, did you guys get into a fight or something?"

"It's really none of your business." I snapped unintentionally, but I didn't apologize.

"I call out bullshit when I see it. You guys got into something, and you can't hide it from me. I'm your best friend and really, it's written all over your face." She deadpanned.

I hesitated.

"Spit it out."

"His father does _not_ like me."

"So you met his parents? When?" Rosalie asked.

"Last night. It was raining so heavily and we were outside, but we couldn't make it back so we decided to stay over his parents' place for the night. His father was nice that time, but the next day he was... cold? I don't know how to describe him." I told her. "He told me to leave the house and never come in contact with them or something. I decided to go along with his decision since... well, it was out of respect. I was a guest in their house and they did treat me with hospitality. if they felt that I wasn't... good, then I'll leave."

"And you never called Edward?"

"There wouldn't be a use. He's called me tons of times, but I didn't respond."

"Well, fuck them. He loves you and he won't let go of you that easily, obviously."

"He will. Soon enough. He'll find someone and forget about me soon."

She ignored my words. "What a lovely time to feel the mutual hatred towards each family," she sarcastically remarked. "Your mom hates Edward, his dad hates you... hate makes the world go round."

* * *

So people asked for Edward's point of view and I gave it! So what do you think? Anything that I need to address? You all are lovely reviewers, and after twelve chapters, there are already so many of you taking the time to read this story and put it on your favorites & alerts! I have my exams now, but I'll be back soon!

xx Scarlett


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